Mike's bookshelf: all en-US Wed, 09 Apr 2025 00:21:50 -0700 60 Mike's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Witch King (The Rising World, #1)]]> 57861689 From the breakout SFF superstar author of Murderbot comes a remarkable story of power and friendship, of trust and betrayal, and of the families we choose.

"I didn't know you were a... demon."
"You idiot. I'm the demon."
Kai's having a long day in Martha Wells' WITCH KING....

After being murdered, his consciousness dormant and unaware of the passing of time while confined in an elaborate water trap, Kai wakes to find a lesser mage attempting to harness Kai’s magic to his own advantage. That was never going to go well.

But why was Kai imprisoned in the first place? What has changed in the world since his assassination? And why does the Rising World Coalition appear to be growing in influence?

Kai will need to pull his allies close and draw on all his pain magic if he is to answer even the least of these questions.

He’s not going to like the answers.

WITCH KING is Martha Wells’s first new fantasy in over a decade, drawing together her signature ability to create characters we adore and identify with, alongside breathtaking action and adventure, and the wit and charm we’ve come to expect from one of the leading writers of her generation.]]> 424 Martha Wells Mike 4 4.00 2023 Witch King (The Rising World, #1)
author: Martha Wells
name: Mike
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/09
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Battle Ground (The Dresden Files, #17)]]> 42419826
But this time it’s different. A being more powerful and dangerous on an order of magnitude beyond what the world has seen in a millennium is coming. And she’s bringing an army. The Last Titan has declared war on the city of Chicago, and has come to subjugate humanity, obliterating any who stand in her way.

Harry’s mission is simple but impossible: Save the city by killing a Titan. And the attempt will change Harry’s life, Chicago, and the mortal world forever.]]> 432 Jim Butcher 0593199324 Mike 4 4.59 2020 Battle Ground (The Dresden Files, #17)
author: Jim Butcher
name: Mike
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/01
date added: 2024/11/01
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Peace Talks (The Dresden Files, #16)]]> 49370109 HARRY DRESDEN IS BACK AND READY FOR ACTION, in the new entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling Dresden Files.

When the Supernatural nations of the world meet up to negotiate an end to ongoing hostilities, Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, joins the White Council's security team to make sure the talks stay civil. But can he succeed, when dark political manipulations threaten the very existence of Chicago--and all he holds dear?]]> 348 Jim Butcher 0399587071 Mike 3 4.42 2020 Peace Talks (The Dresden Files, #16)
author: Jim Butcher
name: Mike
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/22
date added: 2024/10/22
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Ghost Story (The Dresden Files, #13)]]> 10360293 Chicago wizard Harry Dresden gets a taste of the dead life in this novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.

In his life, Harry’s been shot, stabbed, sliced, beaten, burned, crushed, and tortured. And after someone puts a bullet through his chest and leaves him to die in the waters of Lake Michigan, things really start going downhill.

Trapped between life and death, he learns that his friends are in serious trouble. Only by finding his murderer can he save his friends and move on—a feat which would be a lot easier if he had a body and access to his powers. Worse still are the malevolent shadows that roam Chicago, controlled by a dark entity that wants Harry to suffer even in death.

Now, the late Harry Dresden will have to pull off the ultimate trick without using any magic—or face an eternity as just another lost soul...]]> 608 Jim Butcher 1101476176 Mike 4 4.37 2011 Ghost Story (The Dresden Files, #13)
author: Jim Butcher
name: Mike
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/11
date added: 2024/10/11
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Changes (The Dresden Files, #12)]]> 8442726 560 Jim Butcher 1101186305 Mike 4 4.60 2010 Changes (The Dresden Files, #12)
author: Jim Butcher
name: Mike
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/09
date added: 2024/10/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[White Night (The Dresden Files, #9)]]> 5973243 Wizard Harry Dresden must investigate his own flesh and blood when a series of killings strike Chicago’s magic practitioners in this novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.Someone is targeting the members of the city’s supernatural underclass—those who don’t possess enough power to become full-fledged wizards. Some have vanished. Others appear to be victims of suicide. But now the culprit has left a calling card at one of the crime scenes—a message for Harry Dresden.   Harry sets out to find the apparent serial killer, but his investigation turns up evidence pointing to the one suspect he cannot possibly believe his half-brother, Thomas. To clear his brother’s name, Harry rushes into a supernatural power struggle that renders him outnumbered, outclassed, and dangerously susceptible to temptation.   And Harry knows that if he screws this one up, people will die—and one of them will be his brother...]]> 528 Jim Butcher 1101128712 Mike 4 4.45 2007 White Night (The Dresden Files, #9)
author: Jim Butcher
name: Mike
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/03
date added: 2024/10/03
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Proven Guilty (The Dresden Files, #8)]]> 5986832
And if that wasn't enough, another problem arrives in the form of the tattooed and pierced daughter of an old friend, all grown-up and already in trouble. Her boyfriend was the only one in a room where an old man was attacked, but in spite of this, he insists he didn't do it. What looks like a supernatural assault straight out of a horror film turns out to be...well, something quite close to that, as Harry discovers that malevolent entities that feed on fear are loose in Chicago. All in a day's work for a wizard, his faithful dog, and a talking skull named Bob...]]> 428 Jim Butcher 1101128615 Mike 4 4.48 2006 Proven Guilty (The Dresden Files, #8)
author: Jim Butcher
name: Mike
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/29
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dead Beat (The Dresden Files, #7)]]> 6567483
Luckily, however, he's not alone. Although most people don't believe in magic, the Chicago P.D. has a Special Investigations department, headed by his good friend Karrin Murphy. They deal with the . . . stranger cases. It's down to Karrin that Harry sneaks into Graceland Cemetery to meet a vampire named Mavra. Mavra has evidence that would destroy Karrin's career, and her demands are simple. She wants the Word of Kemmler - and all the power that comes with it. But first, Harry's keen to know what he'd be handing over. Before long he's racing against time, and six necromancers, to get the Word. And to prevent a Halloween that would truly wake the dead.

Magic - it can get a guy killed.]]> 408 Jim Butcher 1101128445 Mike 4 4.48 2005 Dead Beat (The Dresden Files, #7)
author: Jim Butcher
name: Mike
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/27
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Aeronaut's Windlass (The Cinder Spires, #1)]]> 25022451 Jim Butcher, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Dresden Files and the Codex Alera novels, conjures up a new series set in a fantastic world of noble families, steam-powered technology, and magic-wielding warriors�

Since time immemorial, the Spires have sheltered humanity, towering for miles over the mist-shrouded surface of the world. Within their halls, aristocratic houses have ruled for generations, developing scientific marvels, fostering trade alliances, and building fleets of airships to keep the peace.

Captain Grimm commands the merchant ship, Predator. Fiercely loyal to Spire Albion, he has taken their side in the cold war with Spire Aurora, disrupting the enemy’s shipping lines by attacking their cargo vessels. But when the Predator is severely damaged in combat, leaving captain and crew grounded, Grimm is offered a proposition from the Spirearch of Albion—to join a team of agents on a vital mission in exchange for fully restoring Predator to its fighting glory.

And even as Grimm undertakes this dangerous task, he will learn that the conflict between the Spires is merely a premonition of things to come. Humanity’s ancient enemy, silent for more than ten thousand years, has begun to stir once more. And death will follow in its wake…]]> 654 Jim Butcher 0698138007 Mike 3 4.36 2015 The Aeronaut's Windlass (The Cinder Spires, #1)
author: Jim Butcher
name: Mike
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/23
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves:
review:

]]> The Dresden Files Books 1-6 10074280 The first six novels featuring Harry Dresden—Chicago’s only professional wizard—are a perfect introduction to the # 1 New York Times bestselling series that Entertainment Weekly describes as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer starring Philip Marlowe.�  STORM FRONTFOOL MOONGRAVE PERILSUMMER KNIGHTDEATH MASKSBLOOD RITES]]> 1900 Jim Butcher 1101499680 Mike 4 4.55 2006 The Dresden Files Books 1-6
author: Jim Butcher
name: Mike
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/19
date added: 2024/09/19
shelves:
review:

]]> Hogfather (Discworld, #20) 6567835
There are those who believe and those who don't. Through the ages, superstition has had its uses. Nowhere more so than in the Discworld where it's helped to maintain the status quo. Anything that undermines superstition has to be viewed with some caution. There may be consequences, particularly on the last night of the year when the time is turning. When those consequences turn out to be the end of the world, you need to be prepared. You might even want more standing between you and oblivion than a mere slip of a girl - even if she has looked Death in the face on numerous occasions...]]> 355 Terry Pratchett 0061807702 Mike 2 4.40 1996 Hogfather (Discworld, #20)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Mike
average rating: 4.40
book published: 1996
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/08
date added: 2024/09/08
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1)]]> 6219313 HARRY DRESDEN � WIZARD

Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment.

Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he's the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the "everyday" world is actually full of strange and magical things—and most don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a—well, whatever. There's just one problem. Business, to put it mildly, stinks.

So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's black magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name. And that's when things start to get interesting.

Magic - it can get a guy killed.]]> 336 Jim Butcher Mike 4 4.01 2000 Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1)
author: Jim Butcher
name: Mike
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/30
date added: 2024/08/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Kindly Ones (A Dance to the Music of Time, #6)]]> 1376772 256 Anthony Powell 0006540414 Mike 4
]]> 4.23 1962 The Kindly Ones (A Dance to the Music of Time, #6)
author: Anthony Powell
name: Mike
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1962
rating: 4
read at: 2015/09/24
date added: 2024/06/14
shelves:
review:
One of the better entries in the series, this installment benefits from thematic unity and increased narrative scope, including the first chapter's flashback to Nick's childhood. The Kindly Ones brings a focus on disaster and the presage of disaster. There is a sense of the unsustainability of a decadent era, as when the characters enact the seven deadly sins for a dinner party folly, and a simultaneous threat of external forces, in the forms of impending war, "the girl from Bristol", or past liaisons. Such forces of decline or pressure are collectively understood by the author as the eumenides, and the novel shows them driving people to madness in the comic/pathetic forms of Billson and Trelawney, or to action as in the case of General Conyers and to some degree Widmerpool.


]]> How to Be an Antiracist 40265832 How to be an Antiracist, Kendi asks us to think about what an antiracist society might look like, and how we can play an active role in building it.

In this book, Kendi weaves together an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science, bringing it all together with an engaging personal narrative of his own awakening to antiracism. How to Be an Antiracist is an essential work for anyone who wants to go beyond an awareness of racism to the next step: contributing to the formation of a truly just and equitable society.]]> 305 Ibram X. Kendi 0525509283 Mike 2 Yascha Mounk's The Identity Trap, in which it came up repeatedly as a negative example. Having heard good things about Kendi, and wanting to have a well rounded understanding of the subject, I picked it up. It is a well written, thoughtful composition. It's also fairly difficult to work through, not so much because the ideas are challenging as because Kendi's terminology is relentlessly idiosyncratic.

This is in keeping with the fundamental fact of the book's autobiographical nature. This is the story of Kendi's life, from the origins of his parents to his adulthood. It's the story of his own spiritual and intellectual journey, and the primacy of his experience is an overwhelming factor for everything else covered. The language used is a result of that experience. For example: while Kendi has studied policy, he has not studied system theory, so he asserts that the term "Racial Policy" is superior to the term "Systemic Racism". The fact that these two terms could mean very different things is dismissed out of hand. Kendi finds one of the two terms more clear, based on his background. That is enough.

Similarly, Kendi has spent his adult life fully absorbed in the subject of racism and understanding everything in terms of how it relates to racism. So he asserts that all policies, and in fact all ideas, are either "racist" or "antiracist". There is no such thing as a neutral policy or idea. It feels very unnatural for me to think of a policy like "one dessert per person" or an idea like gravity as being "racist" or "antiracist". However, I'm confident that with sufficient training it would come more easily (and I'm further confident that Kendi has accomplished such training).

What's not at all clear is the value of thinking this way. Kendi's stated objective is to promote racial equity. It seems like this could be productively worked towards without distorting one's worldview so thoroughly that no idea can be evaluated without first considering how it relates to the construct of race. Kendi asserts throughout the book that this is actually impossible, and that people who make such attempts are misguided racists. He has many anecdotes of bad behavior, some from history, most from his personal experience. However, increasingly throughout the book, I felt that Kendi's framework does not make it easier to grapple with the roots of bad outcomes (including but not limited to bad behavior), and that it may at times be getting in the way.

Perhaps the most disconcerting aspect of this book is the slow realization that Kendi would not care what I, or for that matter most people, think. Late in the book, Kendi describes a lecture by an honored professor who teaches that there is no such thing as objectivity. When a young Kendi asks what that leaves for people to strive for, the professor responds "Tell the truth". Kendi presents this as a piece of monumental wisdom that has been imparted to him, and it explains a great deal about his approach. Thinking back through his narrative, his intellectual journey is marked primarily by emotional signposts. Unburdened by the goal of testing his framework against reality and unconcerned by alternate perspectives which can be dismissed as misguided opinions, he's working to build the most emotionally resonant framework that he can against the only yardstick he recognizes: himself and his own, lived, truth.

In the end it's a rather peculiar and fascinating document. But for anyone hoping to find productive dialogue in the modern intellectual tradition, it's pretty discouraging.]]> 4.36 2019 How to Be an Antiracist
author: Ibram X. Kendi
name: Mike
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2024/03/20
date added: 2024/03/26
shelves:
review:
I came to this book after reading Yascha Mounk's The Identity Trap, in which it came up repeatedly as a negative example. Having heard good things about Kendi, and wanting to have a well rounded understanding of the subject, I picked it up. It is a well written, thoughtful composition. It's also fairly difficult to work through, not so much because the ideas are challenging as because Kendi's terminology is relentlessly idiosyncratic.

This is in keeping with the fundamental fact of the book's autobiographical nature. This is the story of Kendi's life, from the origins of his parents to his adulthood. It's the story of his own spiritual and intellectual journey, and the primacy of his experience is an overwhelming factor for everything else covered. The language used is a result of that experience. For example: while Kendi has studied policy, he has not studied system theory, so he asserts that the term "Racial Policy" is superior to the term "Systemic Racism". The fact that these two terms could mean very different things is dismissed out of hand. Kendi finds one of the two terms more clear, based on his background. That is enough.

Similarly, Kendi has spent his adult life fully absorbed in the subject of racism and understanding everything in terms of how it relates to racism. So he asserts that all policies, and in fact all ideas, are either "racist" or "antiracist". There is no such thing as a neutral policy or idea. It feels very unnatural for me to think of a policy like "one dessert per person" or an idea like gravity as being "racist" or "antiracist". However, I'm confident that with sufficient training it would come more easily (and I'm further confident that Kendi has accomplished such training).

What's not at all clear is the value of thinking this way. Kendi's stated objective is to promote racial equity. It seems like this could be productively worked towards without distorting one's worldview so thoroughly that no idea can be evaluated without first considering how it relates to the construct of race. Kendi asserts throughout the book that this is actually impossible, and that people who make such attempts are misguided racists. He has many anecdotes of bad behavior, some from history, most from his personal experience. However, increasingly throughout the book, I felt that Kendi's framework does not make it easier to grapple with the roots of bad outcomes (including but not limited to bad behavior), and that it may at times be getting in the way.

Perhaps the most disconcerting aspect of this book is the slow realization that Kendi would not care what I, or for that matter most people, think. Late in the book, Kendi describes a lecture by an honored professor who teaches that there is no such thing as objectivity. When a young Kendi asks what that leaves for people to strive for, the professor responds "Tell the truth". Kendi presents this as a piece of monumental wisdom that has been imparted to him, and it explains a great deal about his approach. Thinking back through his narrative, his intellectual journey is marked primarily by emotional signposts. Unburdened by the goal of testing his framework against reality and unconcerned by alternate perspectives which can be dismissed as misguided opinions, he's working to build the most emotionally resonant framework that he can against the only yardstick he recognizes: himself and his own, lived, truth.

In the end it's a rather peculiar and fascinating document. But for anyone hoping to find productive dialogue in the modern intellectual tradition, it's pretty discouraging.
]]> <![CDATA[The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time]]> 75495020
For much of history, societies have violently oppressed ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities. It is no surprise that many who passionately believe in social justice came to believe that members of marginalized groups need to take pride in their identity to resist injustice.

But over the past decades, a healthy appreciation for the culture and heritage of minority groups has transformed into a counterproductive obsession with group identity in all its forms. A new ideology aiming to place each person’s matrix of identities at the center of social, cultural, and political life has quickly become highly influential. It stifles discourse, vilifies mutual influence as cultural appropriation, denies that members of different groups can truly understand one another, and insists that the way governments treat their citizens should depend on the color of their skin.

This, Yascha Mounk argues, is the identity trap. Though those who battle for these ideas are full of good intentions, they will ultimately make it harder to achieve progress toward the genuine equality we desperately need. Mounk has built his acclaimed scholarly career on being one of the first to warn of the risks right-wing populists pose to American democracy. But, he shows, those on the left and center who are stuck in the identity trap are now inadvertent allies to the MAGA movement.

In The Identity Trap, Mounk provides the most ambitious and comprehensive account to date of the origins, consequences, and limitations of so-called “wokeness.� He is the first to show how postmodernism, postcolonialism, and critical race theory forged the “identity synthesis� that conquered many college campuses by 2010. He lays out how a relatively marginal set of ideas came to gain tremendous influence in business, media, and government by 2020. He makes a nuanced philosophical case for why the application of these ideas to areas from education to public policy is proving to be so deeply counterproductive—and why universal, humanist values can best serve the vital goal of true equality. In explaining the huge political and cultural transformations of the past decade, The Identity Trap provides truth and clarity where they are needed most.]]> 414 Yascha Mounk 0593493192 Mike 5
Mounk provides an analysis by tracing the intellectual history and showing the confluence of three contributing strands: Post modernism (particularly that of Michel Foucault), post colonialism, and strategic essentialism. Combined with the political transformation brought about by the end of the Soviet Union, this is quite compelling as an explanation for the continuing evolution of the left.

It is, without apology, an indictment of the discourse employed by the left. The portrait Mounk paints is one of intellectual dishonesty embraced to achieve political ends that are ultimately undercut by the very means employed. Strategic essentialism comes in for heavy criticism, but it's the relativism of Foucault that acts as prime mover for a continually escalating trend of egregious nonsense promulgated for political ends. Mounk is transparent in having an agenda here: he wants to course correct, bringing the left back to what he sees as their ideological roots and purpose. For me, the value of the book lies more in explaining why so many intelligent people are making impassioned arguments that seem detached from reality.

This book takes too much space for its content. It repeats itself. It meanders in places. I'm still giving it five stars for clearly outlining what's happening to us as a society. That value more than makes up for its shortcomings. I've read several criticisms/condemnations of this book and, with a few exceptions, they take the form of "This is generally accurate but you shouldn't say so out loud because reasons". Such criticisms only prove Mounk's point that we're not being honest with ourselves, and give credence to his contention that this is ultimately self-defeating.]]> 4.07 2023 The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time
author: Yascha Mounk
name: Mike
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/17
date added: 2024/03/01
shelves:
review:
For many people, myself included, there has long been a sense that our discourse is divided between two increasingly incoherent positions with precious little room for rational thought. The incoherence of the right is easy to identify. From "Keep Government out of Medicare" to the general drive to abandon ethics in the name of morality, the fundamental messages promulgated by the right are almost gleefully nonsensical. The incoherence of the left has been, at least for me, much more difficult to pin down. I can tell that the numbers aren't adding up, but it's hard to follow the math.

Mounk provides an analysis by tracing the intellectual history and showing the confluence of three contributing strands: Post modernism (particularly that of Michel Foucault), post colonialism, and strategic essentialism. Combined with the political transformation brought about by the end of the Soviet Union, this is quite compelling as an explanation for the continuing evolution of the left.

It is, without apology, an indictment of the discourse employed by the left. The portrait Mounk paints is one of intellectual dishonesty embraced to achieve political ends that are ultimately undercut by the very means employed. Strategic essentialism comes in for heavy criticism, but it's the relativism of Foucault that acts as prime mover for a continually escalating trend of egregious nonsense promulgated for political ends. Mounk is transparent in having an agenda here: he wants to course correct, bringing the left back to what he sees as their ideological roots and purpose. For me, the value of the book lies more in explaining why so many intelligent people are making impassioned arguments that seem detached from reality.

This book takes too much space for its content. It repeats itself. It meanders in places. I'm still giving it five stars for clearly outlining what's happening to us as a society. That value more than makes up for its shortcomings. I've read several criticisms/condemnations of this book and, with a few exceptions, they take the form of "This is generally accurate but you shouldn't say so out loud because reasons". Such criticisms only prove Mounk's point that we're not being honest with ourselves, and give credence to his contention that this is ultimately self-defeating.
]]> <![CDATA[The Big Over Easy (Nursery Crime, #1)]]> 6567573 Jasper Fforde does it again with a dazzling new series starring Inspector Jack Spratt, head of the Nursery Crime Division

Jasper Fforde's bestselling Thursday Next series has delighted readers of every genre with its literary derring-do and brilliant flights of fancy. In The Big Over Easy, Fforde takes a break from classic literature and tumbles into the seedy underbelly of nursery crime. Meet Inspector Jack Spratt, family man and head of the Nursery Crime Division. He's investigating the murder of ovoid D-class nursery celebrity Humpty Dumpty, found shattered to death beneath a wall in a shabby area of town. Yes, the big egg is down, and all those brittle pieces sitting in the morgue point to foul play.

“A wonderfully readable riot . . . [A] cleverly plotted, magically overstuffed yet amazingly digestible book . . . This summer's perfect beach read for eggheads.�
- The Wall Street Journal

“As if the Marx brothers were let loose in the children's section of a strange bookstore.�
- USA Today

“Pythonesque . . . Like the Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket books, this one is abundantly playful without being truly geared for children. Anyone who has ever been read a nursery rhyme . . . can appreciate Mr. Fforde's outlandish joking.�
- Janet Maslin, The New York Times]]> 400 Jasper Fforde 1101158301 Mike 4 4.02 2005 The Big Over Easy (Nursery Crime, #1)
author: Jasper Fforde
name: Mike
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/29
date added: 2023/12/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries, #5)]]> 52680842
It worries about the fragile human crew who've grown to trust it, but only where no one can see.

It tells itself that they're only a professional obligation, but when they're captured and an old friend from the past requires urgent assistance, Murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action.

Drastic action it is, then.]]> 346 Martha Wells Mike 4 4.58 2020 Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries, #5)
author: Martha Wells
name: Mike
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/15
date added: 2023/12/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries, #4)]]> 35519109
Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as well as those of the GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot is heading home to help Dr. Mensah—its former owner (protector? friend?)—submit evidence that could prevent GrayCris from destroying more colonists in its never-ending quest for profit.

But who’s going to believe a SecUnit gone rogue?

And what will become of it when it’s caught?]]> 163 Martha Wells Mike 4 4.38 2018 Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries, #4)
author: Martha Wells
name: Mike
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/10
date added: 2023/12/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries, #3)]]> 36153880 Who knew being a heartless killing machine would present so many moral dilemmas?

Sci-fi’s favorite antisocial A.I. is back on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more importantly, authorities are beginning to ask more questions about where Dr. Mensah's SecUnit is.

And Murderbot would rather those questions went away. For good.]]> 150 Martha Wells 1250185432 Mike 4 4.40 2018 Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries, #3)
author: Martha Wells
name: Mike
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/09
date added: 2023/12/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Chronicles of the Black Company (The Chronicles of the Black Company, #1-3)]]> 18881656
Then comes the prophecy: The White Rose has been reborn, somewhere, to embody good once more�

This omnibus edition comprises The Black Company, Shadows Linger, and The White Rose—the first three novels in Glen Cook's bestselling fantasy series.]]> 637 Glen Cook 1466831081 Mike 4 4.34 1986 Chronicles of the Black Company (The Chronicles of the Black Company, #1-3)
author: Glen Cook
name: Mike
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1986
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/03
date added: 2023/12/03
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Goblin Emperor (The Chronicles of Osreth, #1)]]> 45199076 Alternate cover edition can be found here

A vividly imagined fantasy of court intrigue and dark magics in a steampunk-inflected world, by a brilliant young talent.

The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an "accident," he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.

Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no advisors, and the sure knowledge that whoever assassinated his father and brothers could make an attempt on his life at any moment.

Surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favor with the naïve new emperor, and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody. Amid the swirl of plots to depose him, offers of arranged marriages, and the specter of the unknown conspirators who lurk in the shadows, he must quickly adjust to life as the Goblin Emperor. All the while, he is alone, and trying to find even a single friend... and hoping for the possibility of romance, yet also vigilant against the unseen enemies that threaten him, lest he lose his throne � or his life.

This exciting fantasy novel, set against the pageantry and color of a fascinating, unique world, is a memorable debut for a great new talent.]]> 449 Katherine Addison Mike 5 4.24 2014 The Goblin Emperor (The Chronicles of Osreth, #1)
author: Katherine Addison
name: Mike
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/03
date added: 2023/12/03
shelves:
review:

]]> Flowers for Algernon 18378 216 Daniel Keyes 1857989384 Mike 3
I'm not going to go into much explanation beyond this, because I don't want to seem like I'm damning the book with faint praise. This is, after all, a young adult novel written in 1959. On that level and with that as a caveat, this is a good and thought-provoking book.]]> 4.38 1966 Flowers for Algernon
author: Daniel Keyes
name: Mike
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1966
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/11/24
shelves:
review:
There's a lot to like about this book, foremost for me is that it doesn't lend itself to easy conclusions. This is the more remarkable given the books overt Freudian bent and the premise, which seems at first to be a simplistic conclusion in itself. Despite these features, the book manages to remain fairly thoughtful about the nature of intelligence, human interaction and character development. There are aspects of the novel that make me think that the themes would receive better treatment as a short story (I have not read the hugo award winning short story on which this novel is based). In particular, a lot of the book is given over to descriptions of how nasty people are to the mentally deficient, and there's a section of psycho-sexual mystical weirdness (which I found oddly reminiscent of Hesse). On the other hand, the longer development allowed for several "sucker-punches" when the characters or action would demonstrate that nothing is actually as simple as an understanding that the novel had seemed to be on the verge of embracing uncritically. A good example of this: as the main character's awareness expands, he realizes that people have been taking advantage of and abusing him for most of his life. He is understandably angry and bitter about this and retroactively condemns them, basing this condemnation on his current rather than past level of social awareness. It isn't until three-quarters of the way through the novel that he starts to intuit the inherent flaw in this, but when the novel gets around to this consideration it does so more deeply and effectively than I expected.

I'm not going to go into much explanation beyond this, because I don't want to seem like I'm damning the book with faint praise. This is, after all, a young adult novel written in 1959. On that level and with that as a caveat, this is a good and thought-provoking book.
]]> Legend (Drenai Saga, #1) 11720877 “David Gemmell tells a tale of very real adventure, the stuff of true epic fantasy.”—R. A. SalvatoreDruss, Captain of the Ax, is the stuff of legends. Tales of his battles are told throughout the land, and the stories expand with each telling. But Druss himself grows older, until finally, the warrior turns his back on glory and retreats to his mountain lair. There he awaits his old death. But far below, the barbarian Nadir hordes are on the march. All that stands between them and the Drenai people is a mighty six-walled fortress, Dros Delnoch—a great citadel that seems destined to fall. If it does, the Nadir will sweep inexorably across the land, killing all who oppose them.Reluctantly Druss agrees to come down from his mountaintop to lead this last, hopeless fight. Lost causes mean nothing to him—he has fought in such battles a thousand times in a thousand lands. And he is a hero to inspire a new generation of warriors. He is Druss the Legend.Thus begins David Gemmell’s most celebrated novel—an unrivaled classic of mythic heroism and magnificent adventure. . . .]]> 345 David Gemmell Mike 5 4.15 1984 Legend (Drenai Saga, #1)
author: David Gemmell
name: Mike
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1984
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/16
date added: 2023/11/16
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Deepness in the Sky (Zones of Thought, #2)]]> 226004 A Fire Upon The Deep, this is the story of Pham Nuwen, a small cog in the interstellar trading fleet of the Queng Ho. The Queng Ho and the Emergents are orbiting the dormant planet Arachna, which is about to wake up to technology, but the Emergents' plans are sinister.]]> 775 Vernor Vinge 0812536355 Mike 5 4.31 1999 A Deepness in the Sky (Zones of Thought, #2)
author: Vernor Vinge
name: Mike
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2023/11/01
shelves:
review:

]]> The Underground Railroad 30555488
In Whitehead's ingenious conception, the Underground Railroad is no mere metaphor--engineers and conductors operate a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil. Cora and Caesar's first stop is South Carolina, in a city that initially seems like a haven. But the city's placid surface masks an insidious scheme designed for its black denizens. And even worse: Ridgeway, the relentless slave catcher, is close on their heels. Forced to flee again, Cora embarks on a harrowing flight, state by state, seeking true freedom.

Like the protagonist of Gulliver's Travels, Cora encounters different worlds at each stage of her journey--hers is an odyssey through time as well as space. As Whitehead brilliantly re-creates the unique terrors for black people in the pre-Civil War era, his narrative seamlessly weaves the saga of America from the brutal importation of Africans to the unfulfilled promises of the present day. The Underground Railroad is at once a kinetic adventure tale of one woman's ferocious will to escape the horrors of bondage and a shattering, powerful meditation on the history we all share.]]> 320 Colson Whitehead 0385542364 Mike 5 4.04 2016 The Underground Railroad
author: Colson Whitehead
name: Mike
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2023/08/26
date added: 2023/08/26
shelves:
review:

]]> The Book Thief 8120173 When Death has a story to tell, you listen.

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement. 

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak, author of I Am the Messenger, has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.]]> 554 Markus Zusak Mike 5 4.42 2005 The Book Thief
author: Markus Zusak
name: Mike
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2023/08/19
date added: 2023/08/19
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)]]> 33396171 ASIN B01MYZ8X5C moved to the more recent edition

A murderous android discovers itself in All Systems Red, a tense science fiction adventure by Martha Wells that interrogates the roots of consciousness through Artificial Intelligence.

"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.

But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied â€droid â€� a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.â€� Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.

But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.]]> 156 Martha Wells Mike 5 4.27 2017 All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)
author: Martha Wells
name: Mike
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2023/08/19
date added: 2023/08/19
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Down and Out in Paris and London]]> 61995652 207 George Orwell 9394780254 Mike 4 4.36 1933 Down and Out in Paris and London
author: George Orwell
name: Mike
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1933
rating: 4
read at: 2023/07/23
date added: 2023/07/23
shelves:
review:

]]> THE DAIN CURSE 102188208 213 Dashiell Hammett Mike 4 3.98 1929 THE DAIN CURSE
author: Dashiell Hammett
name: Mike
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1929
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/13
date added: 2023/05/17
shelves:
review:

]]> Agency (Jackpot #2) 34943643 New York Times bestselling The Peripheral, a gifted "app-whisperer" is hired by a mysterious San Francisco start-up and finds herself in contact with a unique and surprisingly combat-savvy AI.]]> 413 William Gibson 1101986956 Mike 3 3.81 2020 Agency (Jackpot #2)
author: William Gibson
name: Mike
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2023/05/12
date added: 2023/05/12
shelves:
review:

]]> The Peripheral (Jackpot #1) 24611819
Wilf Netherton lives in London, seventy-some years later, on the far side of decades of slow-motion apocalypse. Things are pretty good now, for the haves, and there aren’t many have-nots left. Wilf, a high-powered publicist and celebrity-minder, fancies himself a romantic misfit, in a society where reaching into the past is just another hobby. 

Burton’s been moonlighting online, secretly working security in some game prototype, a virtual world that looks vaguely like London, but a lot weirder. He’s got Flynne taking over shifts, promised her the game’s not a shooter. Still, the crime she witnesses there is plenty bad.

Flynne and Wilf are about to meet one another. Her world will be altered utterly, irrevocably, and Wilf’s, for all its decadence and power, will learn that some of these third-world types from the past can be badass.]]> 485 William Gibson 0425276236 Mike 5 3.77 2014 The Peripheral (Jackpot #1)
author: William Gibson
name: Mike
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2020/10/08
date added: 2023/01/13
shelves:
review:
This book requires that you pay dues, subjecting yourself to stretches of clunky, barely comprehensible literary impressionism to avoid Gibson having to do anything as undignified as up-front exposition. However, the payoff when things get rolling is a great, rollicking spree over a clever and engaging narrative space. There are a few things that don't make much sense, but the storytelling is sharp and hangs together well, once you're fully bought in.
]]> <![CDATA[The Sentinel (Jack Reacher, #25)]]> 51053653
But there’s nothing pleasant about the place.

In broad daylight Reacher spots a hapless soul walking into an ambush. “It was four against one� . . . so Reacher intervenes, with his own trademark brand of conflict resolution.

The man he saves is Rusty Rutherford, an unassuming IT manager, recently fired after a cyberattack locked up the town’s data, records, information . . . and secrets. Rutherford wants to stay put, look innocent, and clear his name.

Reacher is intrigued. There’s more to the story. The bad guys who jumped Rutherford are part of something serious and deadly, involving a conspiracy, a cover-up, and murder—all centered on a mousy little guy in a coffee-stained shirt who has no idea what he’s up against.

Rule one: if you don’t know the trouble you’re in, keep Reacher by your side.]]> 386 Lee Child 1984818473 Mike 2 3.99 2020 The Sentinel (Jack Reacher, #25)
author: Lee Child
name: Mike
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2022/05/17
shelves:
review:

]]> The Buried Giant 58095605 From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and author of the Booker Prize–winning novel The Remains of the Day comes a luminous meditation on the act of forgetting and the power of memory.

In post-Arthurian Britain, the wars that once raged between the Saxons and the Britons have finally ceased. Axl and Beatrice, an elderly British couple, set off to visit their son, whom they haven't seen in years. And, because a strange mist has caused mass amnesia throughout the land, they can scarcely remember anything about him. As they are joined on their journey by a Saxon warrior, his orphan charge, and an illustrious knight, Axl and Beatrice slowly begin to remember the dark and troubled past they all share. By turns savage, suspenseful, and intensely moving, The Buried Giant is a luminous meditation on the act of forgetting and the power of memory.]]> 317 Kazuo Ishiguro Mike 4 3.89 2015 The Buried Giant
author: Kazuo Ishiguro
name: Mike
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2022/01/01
date added: 2022/01/01
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Discovery of Witches (All Souls, #1)]]> 55572506 An alternative cover edition for this ASIN can be found here.

A richly inventive novel about a centuries-old vampire, a spellbound witch, and the mysterious manuscript that draws them together.

Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.

Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but it is as contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series-with an extra serving of historical realism.]]> 594 Deborah Harkness Mike 3 4.25 2011 A Discovery of Witches (All Souls, #1)
author: Deborah Harkness
name: Mike
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2021/12/27
date added: 2021/12/27
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Team Topologies: Organizing Business and Technology Teams for Fast Flow]]> 44649332
Team Topologies will help readers discover:
� Team patterns used by successful organizations.
� Common team patterns to avoid with modern software systems.
� When and why to use different team patterns
� How to evolve teams effectively.
� How to split software and align to teams.]]> 274 Matthew Skelton 1942788835 Mike 5 4.34 2019 Team Topologies: Organizing Business and Technology Teams for Fast Flow
author: Matthew Skelton
name: Mike
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2021/12/21
date added: 2021/12/21
shelves:
review:

]]> Passage: A Novel 8194648 Passage is an astonishing blend of relentless suspense and cutting-edge science unlike anything you've ever read before. It is the electrifying story of a psychologist who has devoted her life to tracking death. But when she volunteers for a research project that simulates the near-death experience, she will either solve life's greatest mystery -- or fall victim to its greatest terror. At Mercy General Hospital, Dr. Joanna Lander will soon be paged -- not to save a life, but to interview a patient just back from the dead. A psychologist specializing in near-death experiences, Joanna has spent two years recording the experiences of those who have been declared clinically dead and lived to tell about it. It's research on the fringes of ordinary science, but Joanna is about to get a boost from an unexpected quarter. A new doctor has arrived at Mercy General, one with the power to give Joanna the chance to get as close to death as anyone can.A brilliant young neurologist, Dr. Richard Wright has come up with a way to manufacture the near-death experience using a psychoactive drug. Dr. Wright is convinced that the NDE is a survival mechanism and that if only doctors understood how it worked, they could someday delay the dying process, or maybe even reverse it. He can use the expertise of a psychologist of Joanna Lander's standing to lend credibility to his study. But he soon needs Joanna for more than just her reputation. When his key volunteer suddenly drops out of the study, Joanna finds herself offering to become Richard's next subject. After all, who better than she, a trained psychologist, to document the experience? Her first NDE is as fascinating as she imagined it would be -- so astounding that she knows she must go back, if only to find out why this place is so hauntingly familiar. But each time Joanna goes under, her sense of dread begins to grow, because part of her already knows why the experience is so familiar, and why she has every reason to be afraid....And just when you think you know where she is going, Willis throws in the biggest surprise of all -- a shattering scenario that will keep you feverishly reading until the final climactic page is turned.]]> 800 Connie Willis Mike 3 3.93 2001 Passage: A Novel
author: Connie Willis
name: Mike
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2001
rating: 3
read at: 2021/10/07
date added: 2021/10/07
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Absolute Y: The Last Man Vol. 1]]> 23278619
Written by Brian K. Vaughan (LOST, PRIDE OF BAGHDAD, EX MACHINA) and with art by Pia Guerra, this is the saga of Yorick Brown—the only human survivor of a planet-wide plague that instantly kills every mammal possessing a Y chromosome. Accompanied by a mysterious government agent, a brilliant young geneticist and his pet monkey, Ampersand, Yorick travels the world in search of his lost love and the answer to why he's the last man on earth.

This Absolute Edition will feature the first twenty issues of this action-packed series along with special script pages, character sketchs and cover gallery.

Collects Y: THE LAST MAN #1-20.]]> 476 Brian K. Vaughan 1401254292 Mike 3
Well it ain't terribly bad. It's a page turner, for all that there may be some eye rolling involved. There's an unevenness that can be disconcerting, not in the art or the essential quality of the story, but in the underpinning structure. Many characters, especially the baddies (a psychotic soldier, a psychotic cult leader, crazed republicans, uptight community organizers) are cartoonish in their motives and thought, resembling nothing so much as one-dimensional cut-outs from a morality play. Other characters are more engaging, flawed but sympathetic. Vaughan revels in this inequality, throwing his primaries into interactions with silly single-minded ninnies to further their growth, but it's not very convincing.

The end of vol. 1 was particularly disappointing. A goofy and pretentious play within a play and an even more goofy and pretentious psychological shadow-boxing session, both of which emphasize the author's awareness of his place in a cultural context, but also a certain shallowness of discernment toward that context. I may read the subsequent volumes, as I hope that Vaughan will pull together the positive qualities and stop relying so heavily on insane stupidity to drive his plot. ]]> 4.36 2015 Absolute Y: The Last Man Vol. 1
author: Brian K. Vaughan
name: Mike
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2021/09/13
date added: 2021/09/14
shelves:
review:
Carefully constructed, deeply erudite, relevant and self-aware. But is it good?

Well it ain't terribly bad. It's a page turner, for all that there may be some eye rolling involved. There's an unevenness that can be disconcerting, not in the art or the essential quality of the story, but in the underpinning structure. Many characters, especially the baddies (a psychotic soldier, a psychotic cult leader, crazed republicans, uptight community organizers) are cartoonish in their motives and thought, resembling nothing so much as one-dimensional cut-outs from a morality play. Other characters are more engaging, flawed but sympathetic. Vaughan revels in this inequality, throwing his primaries into interactions with silly single-minded ninnies to further their growth, but it's not very convincing.

The end of vol. 1 was particularly disappointing. A goofy and pretentious play within a play and an even more goofy and pretentious psychological shadow-boxing session, both of which emphasize the author's awareness of his place in a cultural context, but also a certain shallowness of discernment toward that context. I may read the subsequent volumes, as I hope that Vaughan will pull together the positive qualities and stop relying so heavily on insane stupidity to drive his plot.
]]> <![CDATA[The Galaxy, and the Ground Within (Wayfarers, #4)]]> 50209317
At the Five-Hop One-Stop, long-haul spacers can stretch their legs (if they have legs, that is), and get fuel, transit permits, and assorted supplies. The Five-Hop is run by an enterprising alien and her sometimes helpful child, who work hard to provide a little piece of home to everyone passing through.

When a freak technological failure halts all traffic to and from Gora, three strangers—all different species with different aims—are thrown together at the Five-Hop. Grounded, with nothing to do but wait, the trio—an exiled artist with an appointment to keep, a cargo runner at a personal crossroads, and a mysterious individual doing her best to help those on the fringes—are compelled to confront where they’ve been, where they might go, and what they are, or could be, to each other.]]> 336 Becky Chambers 0062936050 Mike 3
But the details, oh man the details.

It can be really hard to focus on the intended plot line when the surrounding information raises so many questions. Like "Given the biological limitations on reproduction for Aeluons, its seems impossible for them to achieve population growth over generations. So do they live forever like elves, or are they engaged in something like a massive cloning program?" or "If setting up a habitat dome is achievable by a single individual Laru (who is not particularly affluent or well connected), how is it that the entire Akarak race is unable to get it done?" These nagging questions diverge sharply from the intended subtext of cultural analogy to matters like reproductive rights and race-based wealth inequality.

Ultimately I love what Chambers is doing, but I can't take it as seriously as I'd like. It ends up being engaging and heart-warming fluff, sitting right on the verge of compelling thought experiment. ]]> 4.37 2021 The Galaxy, and the Ground Within (Wayfarers, #4)
author: Becky Chambers
name: Mike
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/08/27
date added: 2021/08/29
shelves:
review:
Three things are fairly universal to drive compelling plots: sex, violence, and kindness. The thing I admire most about Becky Chambers is the ability to construct powerful and engaging plot based almost entirely on the third, the most underused and vital, of these three.

But the details, oh man the details.

It can be really hard to focus on the intended plot line when the surrounding information raises so many questions. Like "Given the biological limitations on reproduction for Aeluons, its seems impossible for them to achieve population growth over generations. So do they live forever like elves, or are they engaged in something like a massive cloning program?" or "If setting up a habitat dome is achievable by a single individual Laru (who is not particularly affluent or well connected), how is it that the entire Akarak race is unable to get it done?" These nagging questions diverge sharply from the intended subtext of cultural analogy to matters like reproductive rights and race-based wealth inequality.

Ultimately I love what Chambers is doing, but I can't take it as seriously as I'd like. It ends up being engaging and heart-warming fluff, sitting right on the verge of compelling thought experiment.
]]> <![CDATA[Record of a Spaceborn Few (Wayfarers, #3)]]> 32802595
Tessa chose to stay home when her brother Ashby left for the stars, but has to question that decision when her position in the Fleet is threatened.

Kip, a reluctant young apprentice, itches for change but doesn't know where to find it.

Sawyer, a lost and lonely newcomer, is just looking for a place to belong.

When a disaster rocks this already fragile community, those Exodans who still call the Fleet their home can no longer avoid the inescapable question:

What is the purpose of a ship that has reached its destination?]]> 359 Becky Chambers 1473647606 Mike 3 4.10 2018 Record of a Spaceborn Few (Wayfarers, #3)
author: Becky Chambers
name: Mike
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2021/08/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[His Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire, #1)]]> 18626894 Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes the precious cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, fate sweeps Captain Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future � and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature.

Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle. For as France’s own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonaparte’s boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism of fire.]]> 384 Naomi Novik Mike 4 4.14 2006 His Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire, #1)
author: Naomi Novik
name: Mike
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2021/07/05
date added: 2021/07/05
shelves:
review:

]]> The Only Good Indians 52180399 The creeping horror of Paul Tremblay meets Tommy Orange’s There There in a dark novel of revenge, cultural identity, and the cost of breaking from tradition in this latest novel from the Jordan Peele of horror literature, Stephen Graham Jones.

Seamlessly blending classic horror and a dramatic narrative with sharp social commentary, The Only Good Indians follows four American Indian men after a disturbing event from their youth puts them in a desperate struggle for their lives. Tracked by an entity bent on revenge, these childhood friends are helpless as the culture and traditions they left behind catch up to them in a violent, vengeful way.]]> 305 Stephen Graham Jones 1982136456 Mike 3
It's interesting to think of the difference between this type of horror (anxiety and dread of violence) and the trashy action novels that are a guilty pleasure of mine, especially the vengeance sub-genre with which there is so much in common. The surface answer is that the dread of the end of those marked for death is replaced (in the action novels) with anticipation and relish, usually facilitated by their being obnoxious if not downright evil. The "good" and "evil" labels being reversed is, I think, a red herring. Both genres do fine in the absence of such labels, and horror is often intentional in their ambiguity (as is the case for this novel). All of which highlights the question of where the difference really lies.

This book provides a good study. It has something to do with intention, not of the author but of the characters. In a good action story, both the "hero" and the "villain" are acting with clear intention and that intention is effective. In a profound sense, this is what makes it an action story, it is literally a study of Will into Action. In horror, the efforts of the protagonist are not effective. Due to ignorance, weakness, the inexorable nature of the cosmos... whatever the reason, there is a painful awareness in horror that although the outcomes may be of their own making, the characters did not choose them. In this, horror is much more similar to classical tragedy than action. That is to say: Ajax commits suicide, he does so not because he wants to but because he must.

I think it's this fatalism that turns me off to horror as a genre. Free floating dread just annoys me, and the extraordinary gesture that accompanies salvation of some few souls at the end seems just as inescapable as the unexpected axe to the chest. But with all that in mind and alongside full recognition of my general antipathy to the whole genre, this is good book.]]> 3.68 2020 The Only Good Indians
author: Stephen Graham Jones
name: Mike
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2021/05/02
date added: 2021/05/02
shelves:
review:
I don't much like horror, which is why this book, so well executed, doesn't get a higher rating from me. I'm really not the right audience for this, and I wouldn't have read it at all except for the high recommendation of a friend. That recommendation was well warranted.

It's interesting to think of the difference between this type of horror (anxiety and dread of violence) and the trashy action novels that are a guilty pleasure of mine, especially the vengeance sub-genre with which there is so much in common. The surface answer is that the dread of the end of those marked for death is replaced (in the action novels) with anticipation and relish, usually facilitated by their being obnoxious if not downright evil. The "good" and "evil" labels being reversed is, I think, a red herring. Both genres do fine in the absence of such labels, and horror is often intentional in their ambiguity (as is the case for this novel). All of which highlights the question of where the difference really lies.

This book provides a good study. It has something to do with intention, not of the author but of the characters. In a good action story, both the "hero" and the "villain" are acting with clear intention and that intention is effective. In a profound sense, this is what makes it an action story, it is literally a study of Will into Action. In horror, the efforts of the protagonist are not effective. Due to ignorance, weakness, the inexorable nature of the cosmos... whatever the reason, there is a painful awareness in horror that although the outcomes may be of their own making, the characters did not choose them. In this, horror is much more similar to classical tragedy than action. That is to say: Ajax commits suicide, he does so not because he wants to but because he must.

I think it's this fatalism that turns me off to horror as a genre. Free floating dread just annoys me, and the extraordinary gesture that accompanies salvation of some few souls at the end seems just as inescapable as the unexpected axe to the chest. But with all that in mind and alongside full recognition of my general antipathy to the whole genre, this is good book.
]]> Bee Season 251762
Myla Goldberg's keen eye for detail brings Eliza's journey to three-dimensional life. As she rises from classroom obscurity to the blinding lights and outsized expectations of the National Bee, Eliza's small pains and large joys are finely wrought and deeply felt.

Not merely a coming-of-age story, Goldberg's first novel delicately examines the unraveling fabric of one family. The outcome of this tale is as startling and unconventional as her prose, which wields its metaphors sharply and rings with maturity. The work of a lyrical and gifted storyteller, Bee Season marks the arrival of an extraordinarily talented new writer.]]> 275 Myla Goldberg 0385498802 Mike 3
Don't get me wrong, it's brilliant. A bit harrowing, bizarre and grim, but brilliant. A remarkable first novel that splices rather than weaves diverse threads into a sentimental and touching horror. Whether it describes the painful coming-of-age of a messiah or the descent into madness of a dishonest narrator is as unimportant as it is ambiguous. The final paragraphs remind me of nothing so much as the culmination of the film Donnie Darko.

The character quirks that build steadily from the first third of the novel, passing over-the-top around halfway and continuing to climb, ultimately detract from the ability to connect to the story. I'm not saying that it's impossible for a boy to be this pathetic, a woman to be this neurotic, a man to be this oblivious, but any one such seems to demand some kind of counterweight to form a proper narrative. What results here is not so much unrealistic as painfully off-balance.]]> 3.57 2000 Bee Season
author: Myla Goldberg
name: Mike
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2000
rating: 3
read at: 2020/12/25
date added: 2020/12/25
shelves:
review:
Good gracious, what a mess.

Don't get me wrong, it's brilliant. A bit harrowing, bizarre and grim, but brilliant. A remarkable first novel that splices rather than weaves diverse threads into a sentimental and touching horror. Whether it describes the painful coming-of-age of a messiah or the descent into madness of a dishonest narrator is as unimportant as it is ambiguous. The final paragraphs remind me of nothing so much as the culmination of the film Donnie Darko.

The character quirks that build steadily from the first third of the novel, passing over-the-top around halfway and continuing to climb, ultimately detract from the ability to connect to the story. I'm not saying that it's impossible for a boy to be this pathetic, a woman to be this neurotic, a man to be this oblivious, but any one such seems to demand some kind of counterweight to form a proper narrative. What results here is not so much unrealistic as painfully off-balance.
]]> Jazz (Beloved Trilogy, #2) 37398 229 Toni Morrison 0452269652 Mike 5
There's something unforgiving about the poetry of this book. The people it touches are given tragedy without beauty. The marriage at the book's center as well, though "tragedy" falls short of its pathos and doesn't give a sense of what comes after, the relationship that falls somewhere between "salvaged" and "redeemed".

In short, this is a work that is deep, ambiguous, and subject to interpretation. It's well named at the very least.

]]> 3.90 1992 Jazz (Beloved Trilogy, #2)
author: Toni Morrison
name: Mike
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1992
rating: 5
read at: 2020/12/21
date added: 2020/12/23
shelves:
review:
The richness of this narrative is belied by its incompleteness. Golden Gray is a good example, little is given of his history or fate, a single vivid incident is all that's recorded of his life. Despite this, his character, contradictions, and possibilities seem clear, even laid bare.

There's something unforgiving about the poetry of this book. The people it touches are given tragedy without beauty. The marriage at the book's center as well, though "tragedy" falls short of its pathos and doesn't give a sense of what comes after, the relationship that falls somewhere between "salvaged" and "redeemed".

In short, this is a work that is deep, ambiguous, and subject to interpretation. It's well named at the very least.


]]> Lock In (Lock In, #1) 21418013
A quarter of a century later, in a world shaped by what's now known as "Haden's syndrome," rookie FBI agent Chris Shane is paired with veteran agent Leslie Vann. The two of them are assigned what appears to be a Haden-related murder at the Watergate Hotel, with a suspect who is an "integrator" - someone who can let the locked in borrow their bodies for a time. If the Integrator was carrying a Haden client, then naming the suspect for the murder becomes that much more complicated.

But "complicated" doesn't begin to describe it. As Shane and Vann began to unravel the threads of the murder, it becomes clear that the real mystery - and the real crime - is bigger than anyone could have imagined. The world of the locked in is changing, and with the change comes opportunities that the ambitious will seize at any cost. The investigation that began as a murder case takes Shane and Vann from the halls of corporate power to the virtual spaces of the locked in, and to the very heart of an emerging, surprising new human culture. It's nothing you could have expected.]]> 336 John Scalzi 0765375869 Mike 3 3.89 2014 Lock In (Lock In, #1)
author: John Scalzi
name: Mike
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2020/12/23
date added: 2020/12/23
shelves:
review:
Once you meet its demand to accept the implausible, this is a very fun book. There are some great flourishes, first rate messed-upedness, and it wraps up nicely. Just don't expect too much
]]> <![CDATA[The Handmaid’s Tale (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)]]> 38447
Funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing, The Handmaid's Tale is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and tour de force.]]> 311 Margaret Atwood 038549081X Mike 3
At the same time, there are several things that made it hard for me to fully embrace this book. The stream-of-consciousness and free association flourishes seemed trivial and sophomoric, like the faux Latin motto that becomes a refrain. It's kind of smart, but not really insightful. Unlike over-intellectual stupidities in authors like Joyce, it never becomes self-parody and so the reader is never invited to mock the pseudo-wisdom. Taking this stuff seriously can become pretty tedious.

Is it reasonable to accuse a book with this subject matter of taking itself too seriously? Perhaps not. But consider 1984, a book every bit as overwrought and portentous as this, and possibly its closest relative. 1984 doesn't try to be clever, conveying its dismal vision of betrayed humanity with a direct despair. In contrast, I found the bitter and humorless whimsy peppering this narrative irritating, and that it pulled me out of the story.

From this semi-detached standpoint, the plausibility of the book was hard to maintain. It's not like there's any dearth of examples for domineering patriarchal societies that brutally subjugate women, either historically or current day. Why go through wild contortions of speculation to construct something that is already clearly represented in so many areas and sources?

The reason, I suppose, is that this possible future of the United States is more real to many people than what happens every day in parts of Asia and Africa. That in itself is good reason for the book to be written, but it's a discouraging conclusion.]]> 4.15 1985 The Handmaid’s Tale (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Mike
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1985
rating: 3
read at: 2020/11/08
date added: 2020/11/08
shelves:
review:
There's a lot to recommend this dystopian vision with flashes of postmodernism. It's near to life and plenty disturbing, highlighting both the horror of a possible future and the failings of current society (circa the 1980s). It's erudite, and relatively even-handed as it discusses social deficiencies.

At the same time, there are several things that made it hard for me to fully embrace this book. The stream-of-consciousness and free association flourishes seemed trivial and sophomoric, like the faux Latin motto that becomes a refrain. It's kind of smart, but not really insightful. Unlike over-intellectual stupidities in authors like Joyce, it never becomes self-parody and so the reader is never invited to mock the pseudo-wisdom. Taking this stuff seriously can become pretty tedious.

Is it reasonable to accuse a book with this subject matter of taking itself too seriously? Perhaps not. But consider 1984, a book every bit as overwrought and portentous as this, and possibly its closest relative. 1984 doesn't try to be clever, conveying its dismal vision of betrayed humanity with a direct despair. In contrast, I found the bitter and humorless whimsy peppering this narrative irritating, and that it pulled me out of the story.

From this semi-detached standpoint, the plausibility of the book was hard to maintain. It's not like there's any dearth of examples for domineering patriarchal societies that brutally subjugate women, either historically or current day. Why go through wild contortions of speculation to construct something that is already clearly represented in so many areas and sources?

The reason, I suppose, is that this possible future of the United States is more real to many people than what happens every day in parts of Asia and Africa. That in itself is good reason for the book to be written, but it's a discouraging conclusion.
]]> <![CDATA[We Are Legion (We Are Bob) (Bobiverse, #1)]]> 32109569 Alternate Cover Edition can be found here.

Bob Johansson has just sold his software company and is looking forward to a life of leisure. There are places to go, books to read, and movies to watch. So it's a little unfair when he gets himself killed crossing the street.

Bob wakes up a century later to find that corpsicles have been declared to be without rights, and he is now the property of the state. He has been uploaded into computer hardware and is slated to be the controlling AI in an interstellar probe looking for habitable planets. The stakes are high: no less than the first claim to entire worlds. If he declines the honor, he'll be switched off, and they'll try again with someone else. If he accepts, he becomes a prime target. There are at least three other countries trying to get their own probes launched first, and they play dirty.

The safest place for Bob is in space, heading away from Earth at top speed. Or so he thinks. Because the universe is full of nasties, and trespassers make them mad - very mad.]]> 383 Dennis E. Taylor Mike 4 4.29 2016 We Are Legion (We Are Bob) (Bobiverse, #1)
author: Dennis E. Taylor
name: Mike
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2020/04/17
date added: 2020/11/01
shelves:
review:
Packs a remarkable amount of thinking material into an uncomplicated narrative, like a popcorn movie that can launch a hundred late night discussions. Full-bore nerd lovin' fun.
]]> Snapshot 31176804
Davis’s job as a cop on Snapshot Duty is straight forward. Sometimes he is tasked with finding where a criminal dumped a weapon. Sometimes he is tasked with documenting domestic disputes. Simple. Mundane. One day, in between two snapshot assignments, Davis decides to investigate the memory of a call that was mysteriously never logged at the precinct, and he makes a horrifying discovery.

As in all many stories, Snapshot follows a wonderfully flawed character as he attempts to solve a horrific crime. Sanderson proves that no matter the genre, he is one of the most skilled storytellers in the business.]]> 123 Brandon Sanderson 0998559903 Mike 2 to-read 4.01 2017 Snapshot
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Mike
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2020/10/12
date added: 2020/10/12
shelves: to-read
review:
It's okay. Kind of predictable, kind of derivative. Reads more like an example of how to write than a real offering from an accomplished writer.
]]> The Jungle 41681
When it was published in serial form in 1905, it was a full third longer than the censored, commercial edition published in book form the following year. That expurgated commercial edition edited out much of the ethnic flavor of the original, as well as some of the goriest descriptions of the meat-packing industry and much of Sinclair's most pointed social and political commentary.

The text of this new edition is as it appeared in the original uncensored edition of 1905.
It contains the full 36 chapters as originally published, rather than the 31 of the expurgated edition.

A new foreword describes the discovery in the 1980s of the original edition and its subsequent suppression, and a new introduction places the novel in historical context by explaining the pattern of censorship in the shorter commercial edition.]]> 335 Upton Sinclair 1884365302 Mike 3
Throughout this book, poor Jurgis treads a continually downward spiral from bad to worse. Just when things seem to be looking up, the baseness of human nature reasserts itself and pushes him to new levels of depravity. The book ends on an upward note with Jurgis embracing international socialism in the early 1900s.

I wonder how that went. ]]> 3.77 1906 The Jungle
author: Upton Sinclair
name: Mike
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1906
rating: 3
read at: 2020/10/10
date added: 2020/10/10
shelves:
review:
Things do not go well.

Throughout this book, poor Jurgis treads a continually downward spiral from bad to worse. Just when things seem to be looking up, the baseness of human nature reasserts itself and pushes him to new levels of depravity. The book ends on an upward note with Jurgis embracing international socialism in the early 1900s.

I wonder how that went.
]]> <![CDATA[Zoe's Tale (Old Man's War, #4)]]> 2102600
I ask because it's what I have to do. I'm Zoe Boutin Perry: A colonist stranded on a deadly pioneer world. Holy icon to a race of aliens. A player (and a pawn) in a interstellar chess match to save humanity, or to see it fall. Witness to history. Friend. Daughter. Human. Seventeen years old.

Everyone on Earth knows the tale I am part of. But you don't know my tale: How I did what I did � how I did what I had to do � not just to stay alive but to keep you alive, too. All of you. I'm going to tell it to you now, the only way I know how: not straight but true, the whole thing, to try make you feel what I felt: the joy and terror and uncertainty, panic and wonder, despair and hope. Everything that happened, bringing us to Earth, and Earth out of its captivity. All through my eyes.

It's a story you know. But you don't know it all.]]> 335 John Scalzi 0765316986 Mike 3 3.73 2008 Zoe's Tale (Old Man's War, #4)
author: John Scalzi
name: Mike
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2020/10/08
date added: 2020/10/08
shelves:
review:
Leans heavily on Scalzi's strengths, with considerable success. By this I mean it's heartwarming, endearing, charming and snappy. It's also somewhat disposable, and the strings being used to jerk your emotions are clearly visible. This fits in with a predominant theme of the book: be grateful for what good you can find and don't ask for too much.
]]> The Outsiders 231804 The Outsiders is about two weeks in the life of a 14-year-old boy. The novel tells the story of Ponyboy Curtis and his struggles with right and wrong in a society in which he believes that he is an outsider. According to Ponyboy, there are two kinds of people in the world: greasers and socs. A soc (short for "social") has money, can get away with just about anything, and has an attitude longer than a limousine. A greaser, on the other hand, always lives on the outside and needs to watch his back. Ponyboy is a greaser, and he's always been proud of it, even willing to rumble against a gang of socs for the sake of his fellow greasers--until one terrible night when his friend Johnny kills a soc. The murder gets under Ponyboy's skin, causing his bifurcated world to crumble and teaching him that pain feels the same whether a soc or a greaser.

Librarian note: This record is for one of the three editions published with different covers and with ISBN 0-140-38572-X / 978-0-14-038572-4. The records are for the 1988 cover (this record), the 1995 cover, and the 2008 cover which is also the current in-print cover.]]> 208 S.E. Hinton 0670532576 Mike 5 4.13 1967 The Outsiders
author: S.E. Hinton
name: Mike
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1967
rating: 5
read at: 2020/09/14
date added: 2020/09/14
shelves:
review:

]]> A Dirty Job (Grim Reaper, #1) 33456
It's a dirty job. But, hey! Somebody's got to do it.]]> 387 Christopher Moore 0060590270 Mike 3
I have a pet peeve regarding voice in characters, so when Moore is at his most comfortable and all his characters are talking like the same guy dressed up in different outfits, I find his work fairly annoying. Fortunately, enough of this book is produced with effort and craftsmanship that it saves a nice little story about death, dying, grief, and sartorial decisions.
]]> 4.04 2006 A Dirty Job (Grim Reaper, #1)
author: Christopher Moore
name: Mike
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2020/09/08
date added: 2020/09/08
shelves:
review:
Like many authors, Moore operates in multiple modes. There's the professional writer, carefully constructing a narrative, scenes, characters, and so forth. There's also large sections where he's in flow, effortlessly spinning out pages and pages of madcap text. What's unusual is how distinct these modes are, to the point that you can sometimes notice him switching from one to another abruptly and unambiguously mid-page. When in flow, Moore is endlessly glib, amusing rather than funny, and all of his characters speak with a single voice, heavily peppered with f bombs.

I have a pet peeve regarding voice in characters, so when Moore is at his most comfortable and all his characters are talking like the same guy dressed up in different outfits, I find his work fairly annoying. Fortunately, enough of this book is produced with effort and craftsmanship that it saves a nice little story about death, dying, grief, and sartorial decisions.

]]> Rebecca 17899948 Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again...

The novel begins in Monte Carlo, where our heroine is swept off her feet by the dashing widower Maxim de Winter and his sudden proposal of marriage. Orphaned and working as a lady's maid, she can barely believe her luck. It is only when they arrive at his massive country estate that she realizes how large a shadow his late wife will cast over their lives--presenting her with a lingering evil that threatens to destroy their marriage from beyond the grave.

First published in 1938, this classic gothic novel is such a compelling read that it won the Anthony Award for Best Novel of the Century.]]> 449 Daphne du Maurier 0316323705 Mike 4
I read a bit of analysis by a self-proclaimed angry woman literary critic who felt (strongly) that Rebecca was the hero of this story. Huh. I mean, the narrator and her husband may be cowards and imbeciles, but I have to stop short of embracing evil because "good is dumb".

Was Rebecca evil? I don't think the book leaves much room for doubt there: she hurts others for fun that's... yeah pretty much textbook evil. And when your chosen companions are arsonists, blackmailers, hoodlums and neer-do-wells who are constantly trying to convince others to commit suicide or at least wreck their lives in some way, it's not a good look.

But if Rebecca is the shadow, our feeble and scatter-brained protagonist is tough to swallow as a heroine. I'm not castigating the book's conception of our central couple by calling them cowards and imbeciles, they lay those terms on themselves, with ample justification. And all of this is done quite deliberately by an author who is exploring themes of the anima/animus of the collective mind of her day, the limitations of sympathy and self-actualization, and possibly her own psychology. If someone I knew wrote this book, I'd be torn between taking them out for ice cream and taking out a restraining order. Heavy stuff.]]> 4.28 1938 Rebecca
author: Daphne du Maurier
name: Mike
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1938
rating: 4
read at: 2020/08/24
date added: 2020/08/29
shelves:
review:
Unholy Jungian fairy tales, this is some pretty thorough psychodrama right here. At the beginning you wonder whether you're reading Beauty and the Beast or Bluebeard. By the end, you're just trying to figure out how many of the people are direct facets of the authors self conception (I'm thinking seven, plus or minus five).

I read a bit of analysis by a self-proclaimed angry woman literary critic who felt (strongly) that Rebecca was the hero of this story. Huh. I mean, the narrator and her husband may be cowards and imbeciles, but I have to stop short of embracing evil because "good is dumb".

Was Rebecca evil? I don't think the book leaves much room for doubt there: she hurts others for fun that's... yeah pretty much textbook evil. And when your chosen companions are arsonists, blackmailers, hoodlums and neer-do-wells who are constantly trying to convince others to commit suicide or at least wreck their lives in some way, it's not a good look.

But if Rebecca is the shadow, our feeble and scatter-brained protagonist is tough to swallow as a heroine. I'm not castigating the book's conception of our central couple by calling them cowards and imbeciles, they lay those terms on themselves, with ample justification. And all of this is done quite deliberately by an author who is exploring themes of the anima/animus of the collective mind of her day, the limitations of sympathy and self-actualization, and possibly her own psychology. If someone I knew wrote this book, I'd be torn between taking them out for ice cream and taking out a restraining order. Heavy stuff.
]]> The Stand 149267 For hundreds of thousands of fans who read The Stand in its original version and wanted more, this new edition is Stephen King's gift. And those who are listening to The Stand for the first time will discover a triumphant and eerily plausible work of the imagination that takes on the issues that will determine our survival.]]> 1152 Stephen King Mike 3 Fitzgerald, "he can write circles around anyone, but has nothing to say". The odd thing is that King's writing gives such an impression of importance, meaning, purpose, when ultimately it's so vapid.

For example, take the second book of The Stand, far the longest of the three. A post-apocalyptic story of building, politicking, and preparing for crises. A few hundred pages have proceeded, creeping forward in highly engaging prose, when we're abruptly informed that none of it mattered. The characters cannot be successful by building, politicking, or preparing. The entire second book has just been killing time until they go naked into an inevitable confrontation.

Or take that confrontation, which occurs and resolves itself without any apparent influence from those characters, who stand by passive and ineffectual. There is no clear reason they need to be present at all, other than to pay fleeting witness to the deus ex machina.

This all seems to have a lot to do with King's view of God and religion. "Faith", he seems to say "is the greatest virtue, and consists mainly of doing stupid and inexplicable things for no clear reason." I can't say I think much of this view of faith. Its main value here seems to be the creation of a strawman for his rationalist characters to rail against. That they are proved wrong by his narrative is somewhat infuriating.

In short, despite excellent character development and brilliant craftsmanship chapter by chapter, this is a very stupid book from the standpoint of themes, plot, or structure. However, I have to stop short of saying that the book is truly flawed. If it's a shaggy dog story, it's dressed up in the most portentous of dog ensembles and jumping through hoops and obstacles like gangbusters. It deserves its status as best in show.

What to do with such a book? Rate it 3 stars, accept it as a runaway bestseller, and move on.]]> 4.35 1978 The Stand
author: Stephen King
name: Mike
average rating: 4.35
book published: 1978
rating: 3
read at: 2020/08/18
date added: 2020/08/18
shelves:
review:
Stephen King is an odd writer. He's extremely skilled, the craftsmanship fairly leaps off of each page, and the subject matter is naturally overwrought, filled with fear and passion and hate. But when you take a step back, it's fairly empty. It's like a writing assignment done for a grade... it will earn an A, but its meaning beyond that seems unimportant. Like what was said of Fitzgerald, "he can write circles around anyone, but has nothing to say". The odd thing is that King's writing gives such an impression of importance, meaning, purpose, when ultimately it's so vapid.

For example, take the second book of The Stand, far the longest of the three. A post-apocalyptic story of building, politicking, and preparing for crises. A few hundred pages have proceeded, creeping forward in highly engaging prose, when we're abruptly informed that none of it mattered. The characters cannot be successful by building, politicking, or preparing. The entire second book has just been killing time until they go naked into an inevitable confrontation.

Or take that confrontation, which occurs and resolves itself without any apparent influence from those characters, who stand by passive and ineffectual. There is no clear reason they need to be present at all, other than to pay fleeting witness to the deus ex machina.

This all seems to have a lot to do with King's view of God and religion. "Faith", he seems to say "is the greatest virtue, and consists mainly of doing stupid and inexplicable things for no clear reason." I can't say I think much of this view of faith. Its main value here seems to be the creation of a strawman for his rationalist characters to rail against. That they are proved wrong by his narrative is somewhat infuriating.

In short, despite excellent character development and brilliant craftsmanship chapter by chapter, this is a very stupid book from the standpoint of themes, plot, or structure. However, I have to stop short of saying that the book is truly flawed. If it's a shaggy dog story, it's dressed up in the most portentous of dog ensembles and jumping through hoops and obstacles like gangbusters. It deserves its status as best in show.

What to do with such a book? Rate it 3 stars, accept it as a runaway bestseller, and move on.
]]> Trustee from the Toolroom 107300 316 Nevil Shute 1842323016 Mike 5
Shute is a pleasure to read, and is perhaps most notable as a writer for combining an expansive interest in exploring his subjects and topics with such an economy of narrative that even the odd discussion of sailing, tooling or the familial status of a tertiary character does not seem like a digression. ]]> 4.22 1960 Trustee from the Toolroom
author: Nevil Shute
name: Mike
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1960
rating: 5
read at: 2020/08/02
date added: 2020/08/02
shelves:
review:
A lovely book about kindness, responsibility, and what it means to be happy.

Shute is a pleasure to read, and is perhaps most notable as a writer for combining an expansive interest in exploring his subjects and topics with such an economy of narrative that even the odd discussion of sailing, tooling or the familial status of a tertiary character does not seem like a digression.
]]> Les Misérables 33175 1232 Victor Hugo 0140444300 Mike 3
However, I have three major complaints, which I don't think can be laid at Denny's door.

Complaint 1: Can this even be properly called a novel? It seems to be composed of equal parts polemic and history, with a plot woven in that takes a relatively small portion of the text. The polemic is frequently incoherent, the history generally dubious. If Hugo was writing today, this would have been published as a nice little 195 page historical novel and about 300 blog posts. Now, I'm not being entirely fair, quite a bit of the text is devoted to lengthy character studies (see complaint 2).

Complaint 2: Hugo has no sense of economy. He squanders words, characters and scenes. He's perfectly happy spending ten pages describing a minor character of no particular significance that we'll never see again, and he's equally comfortable building up a distinct character to make some point and disposing of the character, when the same point could have been made using some other character already present. In a word, he's wasteful. There are some wonderful passages in this book. If it weren't for them, I would hardly believe that someone with such careless disregard for words could be reckoned a poet.

Complaint 3: Marius is pretty much a complete idiot. I have trouble sympathizing with a character who's constantly prone to stupid lapses in the service of the plot, or appreciating a plot that depends on its players bumbling about like keystone cops. I know that many people feel differently, but I really want more of a motivation for my characters than "they're just so stupid" (even if lovestruck).

So there you have it. It's a trainwreck of a novel with a contrived plot that relies on stupidity. It's long in the bargain, and it contains hundreds of pages of Hugo badgering the reader. Why on earth am I giving this three whole stars?

For one thing, there's some really strong and affecting writing in the book. Particularly around Jean Valjean, but many of those character snippets that I referred to are quite good (even if completely unnecessary). The scenes of Paris are uneven, many of them are of virtually no value today (deep as they are in Hugo's zeitgeist), but some are quite engaging. I suspect that you could find thirty or more passages that could be extracted which would stand on their own as portraits. For another, the Platonic proposition of virtue which is explored between Thenardier and Valjean (that is: is it better to be wicked and thought good, or to be good and thought wicked) is well executed, and I'm a sucker for that kind of thing. Finally, (and speaking of things I'm a sucker for) there's the schmaltz. From Gavroche taking care of his brothers to Eponine saving Marius' life to... well, pretty much everything Valjean ever does, this book has so much schmaltz that I think only a Frank Capra movie or a broadway musical (which I haven't seen) could ever do it justice. The portrait of the Bishop that opens the narrative combines all of these qualities, and may have been my favorite part of the book. Finally, the premise of a book as a study of outcasts is fascinating, and Hugo returns to this idea just barely enough to remind me of the books value in providing such a study.

In summary, I suspect that the reader would lose nothing by reading an abridged version of this book. If you've just finished an extensive study of France in the Bourbon period, and names like General Lamarque and Louis Philippe fill you with passionate feelings of righteous indignation, than you may appreciate Hugo's diatribes in a way that I could not and you might want to opt for the unabridged version. However, if you've been wondering whether you should read this book just because it's really long, I hope I can disillusion you. It is long. That's not a measure of its worth. ]]> 4.34 1862 Les Misérables
author: Victor Hugo
name: Mike
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1862
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2020/08/02
shelves:
review:
I suppose I'll catch flak for this. So be it. I did not find this to be a great novel. I found it unfocused, more melodramatic than romantic, and generally poorly structured. This is not to say that the book didn't have its good points. There were some mighty good bits of writing in it and Hugo's poetic descriptions shone through the translation (by Norman Denny).

However, I have three major complaints, which I don't think can be laid at Denny's door.

Complaint 1: Can this even be properly called a novel? It seems to be composed of equal parts polemic and history, with a plot woven in that takes a relatively small portion of the text. The polemic is frequently incoherent, the history generally dubious. If Hugo was writing today, this would have been published as a nice little 195 page historical novel and about 300 blog posts. Now, I'm not being entirely fair, quite a bit of the text is devoted to lengthy character studies (see complaint 2).

Complaint 2: Hugo has no sense of economy. He squanders words, characters and scenes. He's perfectly happy spending ten pages describing a minor character of no particular significance that we'll never see again, and he's equally comfortable building up a distinct character to make some point and disposing of the character, when the same point could have been made using some other character already present. In a word, he's wasteful. There are some wonderful passages in this book. If it weren't for them, I would hardly believe that someone with such careless disregard for words could be reckoned a poet.

Complaint 3: Marius is pretty much a complete idiot. I have trouble sympathizing with a character who's constantly prone to stupid lapses in the service of the plot, or appreciating a plot that depends on its players bumbling about like keystone cops. I know that many people feel differently, but I really want more of a motivation for my characters than "they're just so stupid" (even if lovestruck).

So there you have it. It's a trainwreck of a novel with a contrived plot that relies on stupidity. It's long in the bargain, and it contains hundreds of pages of Hugo badgering the reader. Why on earth am I giving this three whole stars?

For one thing, there's some really strong and affecting writing in the book. Particularly around Jean Valjean, but many of those character snippets that I referred to are quite good (even if completely unnecessary). The scenes of Paris are uneven, many of them are of virtually no value today (deep as they are in Hugo's zeitgeist), but some are quite engaging. I suspect that you could find thirty or more passages that could be extracted which would stand on their own as portraits. For another, the Platonic proposition of virtue which is explored between Thenardier and Valjean (that is: is it better to be wicked and thought good, or to be good and thought wicked) is well executed, and I'm a sucker for that kind of thing. Finally, (and speaking of things I'm a sucker for) there's the schmaltz. From Gavroche taking care of his brothers to Eponine saving Marius' life to... well, pretty much everything Valjean ever does, this book has so much schmaltz that I think only a Frank Capra movie or a broadway musical (which I haven't seen) could ever do it justice. The portrait of the Bishop that opens the narrative combines all of these qualities, and may have been my favorite part of the book. Finally, the premise of a book as a study of outcasts is fascinating, and Hugo returns to this idea just barely enough to remind me of the books value in providing such a study.

In summary, I suspect that the reader would lose nothing by reading an abridged version of this book. If you've just finished an extensive study of France in the Bourbon period, and names like General Lamarque and Louis Philippe fill you with passionate feelings of righteous indignation, than you may appreciate Hugo's diatribes in a way that I could not and you might want to opt for the unabridged version. However, if you've been wondering whether you should read this book just because it's really long, I hope I can disillusion you. It is long. That's not a measure of its worth.
]]> <![CDATA[The Dark Forest (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #2)]]> 23168817 512 Liu Cixin Mike 3
But mostly, there are many, many sections where I wasn't at all sure which of the above categories I was reading.

It's almost impossibly grim. The premise of the book (I mean the "discovery" that drives the resolution, not the opening scenario) is fantastically dismal. The opening scenario (the "Wallfacer" project) is just insane and vaguely idiotic. Actually, the actions of most of the characters are vaguely idiotic. Almost everyone seems primed to commit suicide at any moment, and a good many characters do so.

Did I enjoy it? No. Would I recommend it? Again, no. Was it a good book? Also, no.

But there's so much here that is unique and compelling that I can't give it less than three stars. It brilliantly fulfills the primary purpose of speculative fiction by giving you a lot to think about]]> 4.39 2008 The Dark Forest (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #2)
author: Liu Cixin
name: Mike
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2020/07/30
date added: 2020/07/30
shelves:
review:
This book has brilliant flights of insight and technological extrapolation. It also has fascinating cultural examinations. I suspect some of these were too foreign for me to understand, and they went over my head. There were also some places where I think the translation fell apart, and I was getting a clunky and incomplete view of what the author intended. Then there were some bits of, well, just bad writing pure and simple. And some incredibly hackneyed philosophy.

But mostly, there are many, many sections where I wasn't at all sure which of the above categories I was reading.

It's almost impossibly grim. The premise of the book (I mean the "discovery" that drives the resolution, not the opening scenario) is fantastically dismal. The opening scenario (the "Wallfacer" project) is just insane and vaguely idiotic. Actually, the actions of most of the characters are vaguely idiotic. Almost everyone seems primed to commit suicide at any moment, and a good many characters do so.

Did I enjoy it? No. Would I recommend it? Again, no. Was it a good book? Also, no.

But there's so much here that is unique and compelling that I can't give it less than three stars. It brilliantly fulfills the primary purpose of speculative fiction by giving you a lot to think about
]]> <![CDATA[A People's History of the Vampire Uprising]]> 36341674 A virus that turns people into something somehow more than human quickly sweeps the world, upending society as we know it.

This panoramic thriller begins with one small mystery. The body of a young woman found in an Arizona border town, presumed to be an illegal immigrant, walks out of the town morgue. To the young CDC investigator called in to consult the local police, it's a bizarre medical mystery.

More bodies, dead of a mysterious disease that solidifies their blood, are brought to the morgue, and disappear. In a futile game of catch-up, the CDC, the FBI, and the US government must come to terms with what they're too late to stop: an epidemic of vampirism that will sweep first the United States, and then the world.

Impossibly strong, smart, poised, beautiful, and commanding, these vampires reject the term as derogatory, preferring the euphemistic "gloamings." They quickly rise to prominence in all aspects of modern society: sports, entertainment, and business. Soon people are begging to be 're-created,' willing to accept the risk of death if their bodies can't handle the transformation. The stakes change yet again when a charismatic and wealthy businessman, recently turned, decides to do what none of his kind has done before: run for political office.

This sweeping yet deeply intimate fictional oral history--told from the perspectives of several players on all sides of the titular vampire uprising--is a genre-bending, shocking, immersive and subversive debut that is as addictive as the power it describes.]]> 432 Raymond A. Villareal 0316561681 Mike 2
Banality of evil, check.]]> 2.99 2018 A People's History of the Vampire Uprising
author: Raymond A. Villareal
name: Mike
average rating: 2.99
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at: 2020/07/14
date added: 2020/07/15
shelves:
review:
A lot of good pieces, but structurally deficient and thematically meh. I expected a lot more ambiguity. It's hard to get on the vampire's side when they are slaughtering innocent people at every turn, even if they look good in clubs and fulfill the "rights for alternative lifestyles" trope.

Banality of evil, check.
]]> Bless Me, Ultima 18622292 This coming-of-age classic from "one of the nation's foremost Chicano literary artists" follows a young boy as he questions his faith and beliefs after a curandera woman introduces herbs and magic into his life (Denver Post). Antonio Marez is six years old when Ultima comes to stay with his family in New Mexico. She is a curandera, one who cures with herbs and magic. Under her wise wing, Tony will probe the family ties that bind and rend him, and he will discover himself in the magical secrets of the pagan past--a mythic legacy as palpable as the Catholicism of Latin America. And at each life turn there is Ultima, who delivered Tony into the world... and will nurture the birth of his soul.]]> 276 Rudolfo Anaya Mike 4 4.15 1972 Bless Me, Ultima
author: Rudolfo Anaya
name: Mike
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1972
rating: 4
read at: 2020/06/30
date added: 2020/07/12
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[All These Worlds (Bobiverse, #3)]]> 35506021
They've created enough colonies so humanity shouldn't go extinct. But political squabbles have a bad habit of dying hard, and the Brazilian probes are still trying to take out the competition. And the Bobs have picked a fight with an older, more powerful species with a large appetite and a short temper.

Still stinging from getting their collective butts kicked in their first encounter with the Others, the Bobs now face the prospect of a decisive final battle to defend Earth and its colonies. But the Bobs are less disciplined than a herd of cats, and some of the younger copies are more concerned with their own local problems than defeating the Others.

Yet salvation may come from an unlikely source. A couple of eighth-generation Bobs have found something out in deep space. All it will take to save the Earth and perhaps all of humanity is for them to get it to Sol - unless the Others arrive first.]]> 336 Dennis E. Taylor Mike 5
There are things Taylor doesn't do well. The battle scenes here are like watching someone play starcraft. He recognizes this limitation and focuses on the battles as narrative events rather than set pieces. It's a great example of an author recognizing his weaknesses and converting them to strengths. While character evolution and philosophical challenges are deftly explored, action scenes become a means to that end.

One of the philosophical threads is the virtue (and limits) of service as an identity. I found this one of the most engrossing aspects of the book. It reminds me of the LDS conception of the afterlife. This postulates that all of humanity will resolve into three possible states (not counting those who "with full knowledge, reject God"). The basic idea is that everyone is given what they've prepared themselves to receive. The lowest state, worst possible outcome, is similar to Valhalla or some other vision of carnal paradise. I think of it as free unlimited ice cream and video games. The highest state, which has received much justified criticism, is that people become gods in their own right.

It's the middle state that is intriguing and applicable here. Resembling nothing so much as an eternal post-doc, it is to work and learn endlessly. It's a testament to the strength of the protestant work ethic that an eternity of effort would be considered a reward, more to be desired than feeding your impulses. The Bobiverse realizes how this could be the case and, at the same time, provides several critiques showing how in the best case it's not for everyone, in the worst (as in the compulsion of Homer) it becomes an unendurable hell.

That such a heady line of thinking can be seamlessly nestled in a rip-roaring yarn about aliens and sci-fi fandom run amok is a testament to Taylor's powers. Perhaps the best compliment I can give is that this work deserves a place beside all the classic works of science fiction and fantasy that he loves.]]> 4.41 2017 All These Worlds (Bobiverse, #3)
author: Dennis E. Taylor
name: Mike
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2020/04/27
date added: 2020/07/11
shelves:
review:
Fulfills the promise of the earlier volumes, settles comfortably into its strengths, explores challenging questions in a very unchallenging way. I don't know what more you could ask from top grade pulp sci-fi.

There are things Taylor doesn't do well. The battle scenes here are like watching someone play starcraft. He recognizes this limitation and focuses on the battles as narrative events rather than set pieces. It's a great example of an author recognizing his weaknesses and converting them to strengths. While character evolution and philosophical challenges are deftly explored, action scenes become a means to that end.

One of the philosophical threads is the virtue (and limits) of service as an identity. I found this one of the most engrossing aspects of the book. It reminds me of the LDS conception of the afterlife. This postulates that all of humanity will resolve into three possible states (not counting those who "with full knowledge, reject God"). The basic idea is that everyone is given what they've prepared themselves to receive. The lowest state, worst possible outcome, is similar to Valhalla or some other vision of carnal paradise. I think of it as free unlimited ice cream and video games. The highest state, which has received much justified criticism, is that people become gods in their own right.

It's the middle state that is intriguing and applicable here. Resembling nothing so much as an eternal post-doc, it is to work and learn endlessly. It's a testament to the strength of the protestant work ethic that an eternity of effort would be considered a reward, more to be desired than feeding your impulses. The Bobiverse realizes how this could be the case and, at the same time, provides several critiques showing how in the best case it's not for everyone, in the worst (as in the compulsion of Homer) it becomes an unendurable hell.

That such a heady line of thinking can be seamlessly nestled in a rip-roaring yarn about aliens and sci-fi fandom run amok is a testament to Taylor's powers. Perhaps the best compliment I can give is that this work deserves a place beside all the classic works of science fiction and fantasy that he loves.
]]> <![CDATA[The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America]]> 397483
Burnham's challenge was immense. In a short period of time, he was forced to overcome the death of his partner and numerous other obstacles to construct the famous "White City" around which the fair was built. His efforts to complete the project, and the fair's incredible success, are skillfully related along with entertaining appearances by such notables as Buffalo Bill Cody, Susan B. Anthony, and Thomas Edison.

The activities of the sinister Dr. Holmes, who is believed to be responsible for scores of murders around the time of the fair, are equally remarkable. He devised and erected the World's Fair Hotel, complete with crematorium and gas chamber, near the fairgrounds and used the event as well as his own charismatic personality to lure victims.

Combining the stories of an architect and a killer in one book, mostly in alternating chapters, seems like an odd choice but it works. The magical appeal and horrifying dark side of 19th-century Chicago are both revealed through Larson's skillful writing. - John Moe]]> 464 Erik Larson 0609608444 Mike 2
In Chicago of the early 1930s, a lot was going on. A politician was assassinated by a lunatic. A psychopath killed dozens of people in grisly fashion, and the World Fair was launched in the face of great difficulty. With this rich background, one hopes that a skilled author could weave a tapestry from the diverse threads, showing a picture of the American spirit. This book is more like a pile of dirty dishtowels, associated only by the chance of their proximity and revealing nothing but that we live in a sordid world. ]]> 4.02 2003 The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
author: Erik Larson
name: Mike
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2003
rating: 2
read at: 2020/07/06
date added: 2020/07/06
shelves:
review:
What a mess.

In Chicago of the early 1930s, a lot was going on. A politician was assassinated by a lunatic. A psychopath killed dozens of people in grisly fashion, and the World Fair was launched in the face of great difficulty. With this rich background, one hopes that a skilled author could weave a tapestry from the diverse threads, showing a picture of the American spirit. This book is more like a pile of dirty dishtowels, associated only by the chance of their proximity and revealing nothing but that we live in a sordid world.
]]> In Cold Blood 5096865 The most famous true crime novel of all time and one of the first non-fiction novels ever written; In Cold Blood is the bestseller that haunted its author long after he finished writing it.

On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues. 

As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence.]]> 368 Truman Capote Mike 3
That said, this is an influential and important work, the writing is generally good, and the attempt to understand the killers and their relationship to society is worthy. I would probably appreciate it more if the genre it inspired wasn't so full of garbage that magnifies its own flaws.]]> 4.20 1966 In Cold Blood
author: Truman Capote
name: Mike
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1966
rating: 3
read at: 2020/07/04
date added: 2020/07/05
shelves:
review:
An extended psychological character study of two men and a small town where they committed a heinous crime. This was highly original at the time of its publication, and became a seminal work for the true crime genre. Unfortunately, many of the faults of that genre are on full display here. Repetitive narration, haphazard structure, aimless digressions, an ambivalence toward morality and ethical norms that undercuts the psychology that it's trying to explore.

That said, this is an influential and important work, the writing is generally good, and the attempt to understand the killers and their relationship to society is worthy. I would probably appreciate it more if the genre it inspired wasn't so full of garbage that magnifies its own flaws.
]]> Bless Me, Ultima 14362
]]> 290 Rudolfo Anaya 0446675369 Mike 4
]]> 3.81 1972 Bless Me, Ultima
author: Rudolfo Anaya
name: Mike
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1972
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2020/06/30
shelves:
review:
An uneven, but ultimately very powerful story steeped in magic, religion, and the wonder of innocence. There's a beauty to the deep relationships of the boy Antonio, not only to his family and friends, but to the land and histories going back hundreds of years.


]]> Shane 1072364 It was Shane, who appeared on the horizon and became a friend and guardian to the Starrett family at a time when homesteaders and cattle rangers battled for territory and survival. Jack Schaefer’s classic novel illuminates the spirit of the West through the eyes of a young boy and a hero who changes the lives of everyone around him. Renowned artist Wendell Minor provides stunning images and a moving introduction to this new edition of Shane, the ultimate tale of the Western landscape.]]> 160 Jack Schaefer 0553271105 Mike 5
But Shane is a special example. It's a classic of the type as well as a classic western, but it's more than that. The themes of friendship, sacrifice, love in many forms, all stand out. The central theme of how a boy chooses his heroes as he's considering adulthood is incredibly distinctive. If there's sexism and racism here (and of course there is), it's more evocative of a time and people than offensive. A great book.]]> 3.82 1949 Shane
author: Jack Schaefer
name: Mike
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1949
rating: 5
read at: 2020/06/24
date added: 2020/06/24
shelves:
review:
I love the trope of an overwhelmingly capable and dangerous person trying to stay out of trouble, but unable to keep themselves from doing the right thing. I loved it in "A History of Violence". I loved it in "Red". I loved it in dozens, nay hundreds, of other stories.

But Shane is a special example. It's a classic of the type as well as a classic western, but it's more than that. The themes of friendship, sacrifice, love in many forms, all stand out. The central theme of how a boy chooses his heroes as he's considering adulthood is incredibly distinctive. If there's sexism and racism here (and of course there is), it's more evocative of a time and people than offensive. A great book.
]]> Ethan Frome 5246
Ethan Frome works his unproductive farm and struggles to maintain a bearable existence with his difficult, suspicious and hypochondriac wife, Zeena. But when Zeena's vivacious cousin enters their household as a hired girl, Ethan finds himself obsessed with her and with the possibilities for happiness she comes to represent.

In one of American fiction's finest and most intense narratives, Edith Wharton moves this ill-starred trio toward their tragic destinies. Different in both tone and theme from Wharton's other works, Ethan Frome has become perhaps her most enduring and most widely read book.]]> 99 Edith Wharton Mike 4
The crucial thing about Wharton's stories is that her characters choices are intentional. Once you accept that they aren't making bad decisions, but hard decisions, each story and its consequences has a richness and pathos that is more meaningful than dismal. While I didn't like this as much as The House of Mirth or The Age of Innocence, it's shares the powerful theme of freedom and consequences, in a much more compact narrative.]]> 3.42 1911 Ethan Frome
author: Edith Wharton
name: Mike
average rating: 3.42
book published: 1911
rating: 4
read at: 2020/06/13
date added: 2020/06/13
shelves:
review:
It took me a long time to get to Ethan Frome, a famously dismal book from an author that I really enjoy. I'm glad I finally read it and, while I can't argue against it being dismal, I think its reputation suffers from being unappreciated in the context of Wharton's overarching theme. Inflicting this on unprepared high school students is unfair both to them and to the story.

The crucial thing about Wharton's stories is that her characters choices are intentional. Once you accept that they aren't making bad decisions, but hard decisions, each story and its consequences has a richness and pathos that is more meaningful than dismal. While I didn't like this as much as The House of Mirth or The Age of Innocence, it's shares the powerful theme of freedom and consequences, in a much more compact narrative.
]]> <![CDATA[My Men Are My Heroes: The Brad Kasal Story]]> 726125 The riveting story of one hero who defines courage under fire.

Experience the deadly din of modern warfare and the inspiring leadership and courage of legendary First Sergeant Brad Kasal in this riveting new book. It's a page-turning, first-hand account of Kasal's courageous mission to rescue fallen comrades under intense enemy fire during the Battle of Fallujah-actions that earned him the distinguished Navy Cross, America's second highest military award. This stunning, unforgettable account shows an American hero rising to the challenge of world events with leadership, valor, and loyalty.


]]> 287 Brad Kasal 0696232367 Mike 2
This was listed on the Marines reading list, which is understandable as it portrays an intense engagement from the viewpoint of a highly decorated Marine. It also constantly hammers home cardinal virtues like loyalty, endurance, clear-headedness, and dedication to inflicting maximum damage on the enemy. But it perpetuates a mindset from which the military has been trying to move away (for reference, consider Team of Teams) and blithely ignores the fact that the approach it is extolling led to tremendous unnecessary damage. ]]> 4.17 2007 My Men Are My Heroes: The Brad Kasal Story
author: Brad Kasal
name: Mike
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at: 2020/06/12
date added: 2020/06/12
shelves:
review:
I don't want to take anything away from Sergeant Major Kasal, or denigrate his service and sacrifice in any way. However, this is a bizarre and, ultimately, a pretty bad book. Jingoistic and narrow in vision, full of purple prose and blanket excuses on behalf of its central characters while leveling open contempt and vitriol for anyone outside of their circle, this is a prime example of biased writing from a closed viewpoint. It paints a weird fantasy of middle America, male culture, military life, and combat.

This was listed on the Marines reading list, which is understandable as it portrays an intense engagement from the viewpoint of a highly decorated Marine. It also constantly hammers home cardinal virtues like loyalty, endurance, clear-headedness, and dedication to inflicting maximum damage on the enemy. But it perpetuates a mindset from which the military has been trying to move away (for reference, consider Team of Teams) and blithely ignores the fact that the approach it is extolling led to tremendous unnecessary damage.
]]> <![CDATA[Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania]]> 22551730
On May 1, 1915, a luxury ocean liner as richly appointed as an English country house sailed out of New York, bound for Liverpool, carrying a record number of children and infants. The passengers were anxious. Germany had declared the seas around Britain to be a war zone, and for months, its U-boats had brought terror to the North Atlantic. But the Lusitania was one of the era's great transatlantic "Greyhounds" and her captain, William Thomas Turner, placed tremendous faith in the gentlemanly strictures of warfare that for a century had kept civilian ships safe from attack. He knew, moreover, that his ship - the fastest then in service - could outrun any threat.

Germany, however, was determined to change the rules of the game, and Walther Schwieger, the captain of Unterseeboot-20, was happy to oblige. Meanwhile, an ultra-secret British intelligence unit tracked Schwieger's U-boat, but told no one. As U-20 and the Lusitania made their way toward Liverpool, an array of forces both grand and achingly small - hubris, a chance fog, a closely guarded secret, and more--all converged to produce one of the great disasters of history.

It is a story that many of us think we know but don't, and Erik Larson tells it thrillingly, switching between hunter and hunted while painting a larger portrait of America at the height of the Progressive Era. Full of glamour, mystery, and real-life suspense, Dead Wake brings to life a cast of evocative characters, from famed Boston bookseller Charles Lauriat to pioneering female architect Theodate Pope Riddle to President Wilson, a man lost to grief, dreading the widening war but also captivated by the prospect of new love. Gripping and important, Dead Wake captures the sheer drama and emotional power of a disaster that helped place America on the road to war.]]> 430 Erik Larson 0307408868 Mike 0 to-read 4.10 2015 Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania
author: Erik Larson
name: Mike
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/06/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam]]> 422680 "The war in Vietnam was not lost in the field, nor was it lost on the front pages of the New York Times or the college campuses. It was lost in Washington, D.C." - H. R. McMaster (from the Conclusion)

Dereliction Of Duty is a stunning new analysis of how and why the United States became involved in an all-out and disastrous war in Southeast Asia. Fully and convincingly researched, based on recently released transcripts and personal accounts of crucial meetings, confrontations and decisions, it is the only book that fully re-creates what happened and why. It also pinpoints the policies and decisions that got the United States into the morass and reveals who made these decisions and the motives behind them, disproving the published theories of other historians and excuses of the participants.

Dereliction Of Duty covers the story in strong narrative fashion, focusing on a fascinating cast of characters: President Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, General Maxwell Taylor, McGeorge Bundy and other top aides who deliberately deceived the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the U.S. Congress and the American public.

Sure to generate controversy, Dereliction Of Duty is an explosive and authoritative new look at the controversy concerning the United States involvement in Vietnam.]]> 446 H.R. McMaster 0060929081 Mike 3
But first and foremost, the book is the aforementioned hatchet job. It is unrelenting in its attack on LBJ as a weak and shallow dimwit whose obsession with political perception inexorably leads to disaster. McNamara is a mephistophelean genius for operational manipulation, whose willingness to serve LBJ as his master masks some sinister and mysterious motivation. These portrayals may or may not be justified, but they are thoroughly understandable and relatable given the history of the Vietnam war. McMasters thorough embrace of this bias and the way it shapes his narrative provides a fascinating corollary to his main theme: the effect that a breakdown of communication and trust has on organizational capability and decision making.

That theme is explored in the dynamics between these two men and their military counterparts, ambassadors and attaches, but most notably the joint chiefs of staff (JCS). The JCS are repeatedly highlighted as an infighting and ineffective group of outsized egos who can't make decisions, consistently ignore social-political realities in favor of short-sighted military solutions, and have no real solutions other than a variety of ways of escalating conflict. Multiple successive administrations have found them unhelpful. And yet, one of McMaster's chief complaints is that they are marginalized.

That's not to say that it's an entirely unfair criticism. The situation McMaster describes has generals playing at politicking and politicians playing at war, to the detriment of all involved. Yet the degree to which blame falls squarely on the civilians in this critical bungling of military policy is striking. The problems McMaster describes persist, and he shies away from telling his own masters (on whose dime this was created) that they have a critical part in accountability.]]> 3.95 1997 Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam
author: H.R. McMaster
name: Mike
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1997
rating: 3
read at: 2020/06/07
date added: 2020/06/07
shelves:
review:
Is this book more than a hatchet job on LBJ and McNamara? It is, in ways both intentional and perhaps not.

But first and foremost, the book is the aforementioned hatchet job. It is unrelenting in its attack on LBJ as a weak and shallow dimwit whose obsession with political perception inexorably leads to disaster. McNamara is a mephistophelean genius for operational manipulation, whose willingness to serve LBJ as his master masks some sinister and mysterious motivation. These portrayals may or may not be justified, but they are thoroughly understandable and relatable given the history of the Vietnam war. McMasters thorough embrace of this bias and the way it shapes his narrative provides a fascinating corollary to his main theme: the effect that a breakdown of communication and trust has on organizational capability and decision making.

That theme is explored in the dynamics between these two men and their military counterparts, ambassadors and attaches, but most notably the joint chiefs of staff (JCS). The JCS are repeatedly highlighted as an infighting and ineffective group of outsized egos who can't make decisions, consistently ignore social-political realities in favor of short-sighted military solutions, and have no real solutions other than a variety of ways of escalating conflict. Multiple successive administrations have found them unhelpful. And yet, one of McMaster's chief complaints is that they are marginalized.

That's not to say that it's an entirely unfair criticism. The situation McMaster describes has generals playing at politicking and politicians playing at war, to the detriment of all involved. Yet the degree to which blame falls squarely on the civilians in this critical bungling of military policy is striking. The problems McMaster describes persist, and he shies away from telling his own masters (on whose dime this was created) that they have a critical part in accountability.
]]> Redshirts 13055592 Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting, and Andrew is thrilled all the more to be assigned to the ship’s Xenobiology laboratory.

Life couldn’t be better…until Andrew begins to pick up on the fact that:
(1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethal confrontation with alien forces
(2) the ship’s captain, its chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these confrontations
(3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed.

Not surprisingly, a great deal of energy below decks is expended on avoiding, at all costs, being assigned to an Away Mission. Then Andrew stumbles on information that completely transforms his and his colleagues� understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is…and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives.]]> 320 John Scalzi 0765316994 Mike 4
Here's how this works: In duplicate bridge (the card game) the element of luck is reduced by having the same deals played by different sets of players. Of course, life has a pretty strong element of luck as well. One person is born wealthy, another poor. One during the collapse of the Roman empire, another during the Renaissance, another in the modern age. With circumstances so divergent, one can rightly question how some postulated God of Judgement would be able to compare any two lives. It's always apples and oranges, so it would seem.

But in an infinite universe, or infinite series of infinite universes, we have the opportunity to have every "soul" born into every circumstance, given every opportunity and every disadvantage. The playing field is thus perfectly leveled and divergence from the mean becomes significant. This may seem to assume the existence of an intentional "God" or tangible "soul". However, a quick reference to Nietzsche's "Infinite Return" nightmare shows that the same fatalist possibility can exist independent of such theological structures. Even divine judgement can be removed in favor of existential self-determination. Would Nietzsche feel any better about reliving someone else's life rather than his own? Perhaps for him, this is just a different form of nightmare.

Back to this absurd book. Am I reading too much into this? Before the Codas, perhaps. It's like Galaxy Quest written by Jasper Fforde (who gets multiple shout-outs, btw). But following the Codas, I think I'm not. There is just enough thinking between the winking to make conversations about Nietzsche, the soul, and the expansion for concepts of the self in an infinite universe, necessary and perhaps even inevitable.]]> 3.85 2012 Redshirts
author: John Scalzi
name: Mike
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2020/06/01
date added: 2020/06/01
shelves:
review:
This was fun, a bit derivative, a bit disposable, lighthearted and funny. Then the Codas hit and it becomes very odd, brushing up against the philosophy of the soul without sacrificing its inherent goofiness enough to be taken seriously. Honestly, in a book thoroughly ridiculous start to finish, it's almost jarring to detect a pointer to arguments about ultimate reality. It's worth discussing the duplicate bridge theory of the soul in the context of this book.

Here's how this works: In duplicate bridge (the card game) the element of luck is reduced by having the same deals played by different sets of players. Of course, life has a pretty strong element of luck as well. One person is born wealthy, another poor. One during the collapse of the Roman empire, another during the Renaissance, another in the modern age. With circumstances so divergent, one can rightly question how some postulated God of Judgement would be able to compare any two lives. It's always apples and oranges, so it would seem.

But in an infinite universe, or infinite series of infinite universes, we have the opportunity to have every "soul" born into every circumstance, given every opportunity and every disadvantage. The playing field is thus perfectly leveled and divergence from the mean becomes significant. This may seem to assume the existence of an intentional "God" or tangible "soul". However, a quick reference to Nietzsche's "Infinite Return" nightmare shows that the same fatalist possibility can exist independent of such theological structures. Even divine judgement can be removed in favor of existential self-determination. Would Nietzsche feel any better about reliving someone else's life rather than his own? Perhaps for him, this is just a different form of nightmare.

Back to this absurd book. Am I reading too much into this? Before the Codas, perhaps. It's like Galaxy Quest written by Jasper Fforde (who gets multiple shout-outs, btw). But following the Codas, I think I'm not. There is just enough thinking between the winking to make conversations about Nietzsche, the soul, and the expansion for concepts of the self in an infinite universe, necessary and perhaps even inevitable.
]]> The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 24583
Unlike his brother Sid, Tom receives "lickings" from his Aunt Polly; ever the mischief-maker, would rather play hooky than attend school and often sneaks out his bedroom window at night to adventure with his friend, Huckleberry Finn ­ the town's social outcast. Tom, despite his dread of schooling, is extremely clever and would normally get away with his pranks if Sid were not such a "tattle-tale."

As punishment for skipping school to go swimming, Aunt Polly assigns Tom the chore of whitewashing the fence surrounding the house. In a brilliant scheme, Tom is able to con the neighborhood boys into completing the chore for him, managing to convince them of the joys of whitewashing. At school, Tom is equally as flamboyant, and attracts attention by chasing other boys, yelling, and running around. With his usual antics, Tom attempts to catch the eye of Becky Thatcher, a new girl in town, and persuades her to get "engaged" by kissing him. But their romance collapses when she learns Tom has been "engaged" previously to Amy Lawrence. Shortly after Becky shuns him, he accompanies Huckleberry Finn to the graveyard at night, where they witness the murder of Dr. Robinson.

Excerpt:
"TOM!"
No answer.
"TOM!"
No answer.
"What's gone with that boy,  I wonder? You TOM!"
No answer.
The old lady pulled her spectacles down and looked over them about the room; then she put them up and looked out under them. She seldom or never looked through them for so small a thing as a boy; they were her state pair, the pride of her heart, and were built for "style," not service—she could have seen through a pair of stove-lids just as well. She looked perplexed for a moment, and then said, not fiercely, but still loud enough for the furniture to hear:
"Well, I lay if I get hold of you I'll�"
She did not finish, for by this time she was bending down and punching under the bed with the broom, and so she needed breath to punctuate the punches with. She resurrected nothing but the cat.
"I never did see the beat of that boy!"]]> 244 Mark Twain Mike 5 3.92 1876 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
author: Mark Twain
name: Mike
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1876
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2020/05/10
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]]> The Count of Monte Cristo 7126 The epic tale of wrongful imprisonment, adventure and revenge, in its definitive translation

Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantès is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to use the treasure to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. Dumas� epic tale of suffering and retribution, inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment, was a huge popular success when it was first serialized in the 1840s.

Translated with an Introduction by Robin Buss

An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here]]> 1276 Alexandre Dumas 0140449264 Mike 5 4.29 1846 The Count of Monte Cristo
author: Alexandre Dumas
name: Mike
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1846
rating: 5
read at:
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]]> Frankenstein 18490 This is an alternate cover edition for ISBN 9780141439471

'Now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart ...'

Obsessed with creating life itself, Victor Frankenstein plunders graveyards for the material to fashion a new being, which he shocks into life with electricity. But his botched creature, rejected by Frankenstein and denied human companionship, sets out to destroy his maker and all that he holds dear. Mary Shelley's chilling Gothic tale was conceived when she was only eighteen, living with her lover Percy Shelley near Byron's villa on Lake Geneva. It would become the world's most famous work of horror fiction, and remains a devastating exploration of the limits of human creativity.

Based on the third edition of 1831, this volume contains all the revisions Mary Shelley made to her story, as well as her 1831 introduction and Percy Bysshe Shelley's preface to the first edition. This revised edition includes as appendices a select collation of the texts of 1818 and 1831 together with 'A Fragment' by Lord Byron and Dr John Polidori's 'The Vampyre: A Tale'.]]> 288 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Mike 4 3.77 1818 Frankenstein
author: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
name: Mike
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1818
rating: 4
read at:
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]]> <![CDATA[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, #1)]]> 6324090 96 Lewis Carroll Mike 5 4.04 1865 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, #1)
author: Lewis Carroll
name: Mike
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1865
rating: 5
read at:
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]]> Great Expectations 2623
Pip must discover his true self, and his own set of values and priorities. Whether such values allow one to prosper in the complex world of early Victorian England is the major question posed by Great Expectations, one of Dickens's most fascinating, and disturbing, novels.

This edition includes the original, discarded ending, Dickens's brief working notes, and the serial instalments and chapter divisions in different editions. It also uses the definitive Clarendon text.]]> 544 Charles Dickens 0192833596 Mike 3 3.78 1861 Great Expectations
author: Charles Dickens
name: Mike
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1861
rating: 3
read at:
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]]> The Call of the Wild 1852 The Call of the Wild is regarded as Jack London's masterpiece. Based on London's experiences as a gold prospector in the Canadian wilderness and his ideas about nature and the struggle for existence, The Call of the Wild is a tale about unbreakable spirit and the fight for survival in the frozen Alaskan Klondike.]]> 172 Jack London Mike 5 3.89 1903 The Call of the Wild
author: Jack London
name: Mike
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1903
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2020/05/10
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]]> Don Quixote 823664 Edith Grossman's definitive English translation of the Spanish masterpiece, in an expanded P.S. edition

Widely regarded as one of the funniest and most tragic books ever written, Don Quixote chronicles the adventures of the self-created knight-errant Don Quixote of La Mancha and his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, as they travel through sixteenth-century Spain. You haven't experienced Don Quixote in English until you've read this masterful translation.

This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.]]> 940 Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra 0060188707 Mike 5 4.08 1615 Don Quixote
author: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
name: Mike
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1615
rating: 5
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]]> Gulliver’s Travels 7733 A wickedly clever satire uses comic inversions to offer telling insights into the nature of man and society. Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read.

Gulliver's Travels describes the four voyages of Lemuel Gulliver, a ship's surgeon. In Lilliput he discovers a world in miniature; towering over the people and their city, he is able to view their society from the viewpoint of a god. However, in Brobdingnag, a land of giants, tiny Gulliver himself comes under observation, exhibited as a curiosity at markets and fairs. In Laputa, a flying island, he encounters a society of speculators and projectors who have lost all grip on everyday reality; while they plan and calculate, their country lies in ruins. Gulliver's final voyage takes him to the land of the Houyhnhnms, gentle horses whom he quickly comes to admire - in contrast to the Yahoos, filthy bestial creatures who bear a disturbing resemblance to humans. This text, based on the first edition of 1726, reproduces all the original illustrations and includes an introduction by Robert Demaria, Jr, which discusses the ways Gulliver's Travels has been interpreted since its first publication. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) was born in Dublin.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.]]> 306 Jonathan Swift 0141439491 Mike 4 3.59 1726 Gulliver’s Travels
author: Jonathan Swift
name: Mike
average rating: 3.59
book published: 1726
rating: 4
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]]> A Separate Peace 603241 A Separate Peace. A great bestseller for over thirty years - one of the most starkly moving parables ever written of the dark forces that brood over the tortured world of adolescence.]]> 196 John Knowles 0553280414 Mike 4
On the other hand, Phineas from "Phineas and Ferb" is absolutely based on the character from this novel. I defy anyone who claims otherwise. ]]> 3.56 1959 A Separate Peace
author: John Knowles
name: Mike
average rating: 3.56
book published: 1959
rating: 4
read at: 2020/05/10
date added: 2020/05/10
shelves:
review:
Horrifying. I kind of hate this book, in the way you would hate something that deftly reveals an ugly truth you would rather ignore.

On the other hand, Phineas from "Phineas and Ferb" is absolutely based on the character from this novel. I defy anyone who claims otherwise.
]]> Orlando 17611521 Orlando is Woolf’s playfully subversive take on a biography, here tracing the fantastical life of Orlando. As the novel spans centuries and continents, gender and identity, we follow Orlando’s adventures in love � as he changes from a lord in the Elizabethan court to a lady in 1920s London.

First published in 1928, this tale of unrivalled imagination and wit quickly became the most famous work of women’s fiction. Sexuality, destiny, independence and desire all come to the fore in this highly influential novel that heralded a new era in women’s writing.]]> 222 Virginia Woolf Mike 3
By which I mean to say... I liked it.]]> 3.91 1928 Orlando
author: Virginia Woolf
name: Mike
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1928
rating: 3
read at: 2020/05/07
date added: 2020/05/07
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review:
A cloak and dagger story where the mcguffin is self awareness. A contemplation of literature, gender, social history, and the responsibilities of identity, internal and external. A deeply silly book, hell-bent on walking the line between frivolity and wisdom, which it does with resoundingly partial success. A mess of self-therapy, a love-letter, a presage of magical realism, a poem set in prose, a wild array of oblique references that challenges or affirms the notion that a text speaks for itself.

By which I mean to say... I liked it.
]]> <![CDATA[We Were Soldiers Once... and Young: Ia Drang - The Battle that Changed the War in Vietnam]]> 42512 We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young.

In November 1965, some 450 men of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, under the command of Lt. Col. Hal Moore, were dropped by helicopter into a small clearing in the Ia Drang Valley. They were immediately surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese soldiers. Three days later, only two and a half miles away, a sister battalion was chopped to pieces. Together, these actions at the landing zones X-Ray and Albany constituted one of the most savage and significant battles of the Vietnam War.
How these men persevered--sacrificed themselves for their comrades and never gave up--makes a vivid portrait of war at its most inspiring and devastating. General Moore and Joseph Galloway, the only journalist on the ground throughout the fighting, have interviewed hundreds of men who fought there, including the North Vietnamese commanders. This devastating account rises above the specific ordeal it chronicles to present a picture of men facing the ultimate challenge, dealing with it in ways they would have found unimaginable only a few hours earlier. It reveals to us, as rarely before, man's most heroic and horrendous endeavor.]]> 480 Harold G. Moore 034547581X Mike 3
At the same time, cliche exists because it approximates reality. I have no doubt whatsoever of the veracity of this book. I believe Hal Moore was a good commander who put himself into the thick and earned the trust of the men under him. Just because he's not critical of those men and their actions doesn't mean he's dishonest about them. It helps that the author never misleads or equivocates about what he's trying to accomplish with this book.

The book also gives considerable time to the views of the commanding Vietnamese General, which ultimately saves it from being a one-sided gloss over bad wood. The Vietnamese are no more the enemy of this story than the American servicemen. While the incompetence of a commander might be lambasted in terms of his inability to inflict casualties on the enemy while preserving his own men (McCabe does not come off well), killing enemy soldiers is never presented as a worthy goal in itself.

The Vietnam war is an embarrassing and painful chapter in our nations history, one that many would like to forget. Moore's insistence that we must not forget, and should be in no way embarrassed of those who served, is an important message. I can't help but feel there's a great deal more to take in before I can pretend to understand what happened in Ia Drang and how it changed our conception of ourselves as a country]]> 4.33 1991 We Were Soldiers Once... and Young: Ia Drang - The Battle that Changed the War in Vietnam
author: Harold G. Moore
name: Mike
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1991
rating: 3
read at: 2020/05/03
date added: 2020/05/03
shelves:
review:
I have strong mixed feelings about this book. Moore isn't writing a history, but a combination tribute and apologetic. Justifiably chagrined at the treatment that the brave men he commanded received on coming home, whether alive or dead, this is his response to thirty years of anti Vietnam vitriol directed as much at the soldiers as at the policies. It's literally a collection of old war stories, showing our boys in the most favorable light. As such it is full of cliche (it seems every soldier was an all American athlete, and every casualty managed to say something patriotic to their best friend right before dying) and self-justification, saving its criticism for those with whom Moore never served: the cowardly medevacs, the ignorant politicians, the incompetent and out of touch top brass. How does one take such a book seriously?

At the same time, cliche exists because it approximates reality. I have no doubt whatsoever of the veracity of this book. I believe Hal Moore was a good commander who put himself into the thick and earned the trust of the men under him. Just because he's not critical of those men and their actions doesn't mean he's dishonest about them. It helps that the author never misleads or equivocates about what he's trying to accomplish with this book.

The book also gives considerable time to the views of the commanding Vietnamese General, which ultimately saves it from being a one-sided gloss over bad wood. The Vietnamese are no more the enemy of this story than the American servicemen. While the incompetence of a commander might be lambasted in terms of his inability to inflict casualties on the enemy while preserving his own men (McCabe does not come off well), killing enemy soldiers is never presented as a worthy goal in itself.

The Vietnam war is an embarrassing and painful chapter in our nations history, one that many would like to forget. Moore's insistence that we must not forget, and should be in no way embarrassed of those who served, is an important message. I can't help but feel there's a great deal more to take in before I can pretend to understand what happened in Ia Drang and how it changed our conception of ourselves as a country
]]> <![CDATA[Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.]]> 40115162 #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER � Brené Brown has taught us what it means to dare greatly, rise strong, and brave the wilderness. Now, based on new research conducted with leaders, change makers, and culture shifters, she’s showing us how to put those ideas into practice so we can step up and lead.Don’t miss the five-part HBO Max docuseries Brené Atlas of the Heart!NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BLOOMBERG Leadership is not about titles, status, and wielding power. A leader is anyone who takes responsibility for recognizing the potential in people and ideas, and has the courage to develop that potential. When we dare to lead, we don’t pretend to have the right answers; we stay curious and ask the right questions. We don’t see power as finite and hoard it; we know that power becomes infinite when we share it with others. We don’t avoid difficult conversations and situations; we lean into vulnerability when it’s necessary to do good work. But daring leadership in a culture defined by scarcity, fear, and uncertainty requires skill-building around traits that are deeply and uniquely human. The irony is that we’re choosing not to invest in developing the hearts and minds of leaders at the exact same time as we’re scrambling to figure out what we have to offer that machines and AI can’t do better and faster. What can we do better? Empathy, connection, and courage, to start. Four-time #1 New York Times bestselling author Brené Brown has spent the past two decades studying the emotions and experiences that give meaning to our lives, and the past seven years working with transformative leaders and teams spanning the globe. She found that leaders in organizations ranging from small entrepreneurial startups and family-owned businesses to nonprofits, civic organizations, and Fortune 50 companies all ask the same How do you cultivate braver, more daring leaders, and how do you embed the value of courage in your culture? In this new book, Brown uses research, stories, and examples to answer these questions in the no-BS style that millions of readers have come to expect and love. Brown writes, “One of the most important findings of my career is that daring leadership is a collection of four skill sets that are 100 percent teachable, observable, and measurable. It’s learning and unlearning that requires brave work, tough conversations, and showing up with your whole heart. Easy? No. Because choosing courage over comfort is not always our default. Worth it? Always. We want to be brave with our lives and our work. It’s why we’re here.”Whether you’ve read Daring Greatly and Rising Strong or you’re new to Brené Brown’s work, this book is for anyone who wants to step up and into brave leadership.]]> 230 Brené Brown 0399592547 Mike 4 4.30 2018 Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.
author: Brené Brown
name: Mike
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2020/01/01
date added: 2020/05/01
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[These Truths: A History of the United States]]> 39340860
These Truths tells this uniquely American story, beginning in 1492, asking whether the course of events over more than five centuries has proven the nation’s truths, or belied them. To answer that question, Lepore traces the intertwined histories of American politics, law, journalism, and technology, from the colonial town meeting to the nineteenth-century party machine, from talk radio to twenty-first-century Internet polls, from Magna Carta to the Patriot Act, from the printing press to Facebook News.

Along the way, Lepore’s sovereign chronicle is filled with arresting sketches of both well-known and lesser-known Americans, from a parade of presidents and a rogues� gallery of political mischief makers to the intrepid leaders of protest movements, including Frederick Douglass, the famed abolitionist orator; William Jennings Bryan, the three-time presidential candidate and ultimately tragic populist; Pauli Murray, the visionary civil rights strategist; and Phyllis Schlafly, the uncredited architect of modern conservatism.


Americans are descended from slaves and slave owners, from conquerors and the conquered, from immigrants and from people who have fought to end immigration. "A nation born in contradiction will fight forever over the meaning of its history," Lepore writes, but engaging in that struggle by studying the past is part of the work of citizenship. "The past is an inheritance, a gift and a burden," These Truths observes. "It can’t be shirked. There’s nothing for it but to get to know it."]]> 955 Jill Lepore 0393635252 Mike 0 currently-reading 4.46 2018 These Truths: A History of the United States
author: Jill Lepore
name: Mike
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2020/04/19
date added: 2020/04/27
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> The Federalist Papers 110331

Hailed by Thomas Jefferson as “the best commentary on the principles of government which was ever written", The Federalist Papers is a collection of eighty-five essays published by Founding Fathers Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay from 1787 to 1788, as a means to persuade the public to ratify the Constitution of the United States.


With nearly two-thirds of the essays written by Hamilton, this enduring classic is perfect for modern audiences passionate about his work or seeking a deeper understanding of one of the most important documents in US history.

]]> 688 Alexander Hamilton Mike 4
We have diverged tremendously from what the authors envisioned. The shift in balance toward a nationalist conception of our country, the rise of the military-industrial complex, and above all the centrality of parties in American political life make some of the concerns and responses here seem downright quaint. Worried about having a standing army in peacetime? Having major portions of your economy dependent on one changes the equation significantly.

This calls into question the value of this work. If it's both partisan and outdated, why should it be of interest as anything other than a historical curiosity? The answer, of course, is that these particular partisans established our government, and examining their expectations and intent help explain what has gone wrong over the past 200 (to say nothing of the past 20) years. The American civil war is an excellent case in point. In several passages of deft sophistry, Madison and Hamilton raise and dismiss the possibilities that will nearly tear the country apart in less than a century. We know that they harbored concerns on this score, but their primary concern at the time was to sell the devil's bargain to a skeptical public. A more remarkable disparity may be our current implementation of the electoral college as a battleground for political party dominance, which it's safe to say would have horrified and embarrassed both men.

In a time when every day heralds a new constitutional crises it's valuable to consider how that institution was meant to perform. For that purpose reading these papers is effective, though sadly not very encouraging.]]> 4.05 1788 The Federalist Papers
author: Alexander Hamilton
name: Mike
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1788
rating: 4
read at: 2020/04/27
date added: 2020/04/27
shelves:
review:
There's a lot to take away from this, so let's get one thing out of the way first: anyone who suggests that this is a masterly treatise on government and law that should be required reading for all US citizens is a blowhard who probably hasn't read it. Rather, it's a sprawling series of newspaper articles meant to sell the constitution to the literate public through a combination of erudite responses to potential objections and sheer volume of text. Exhaustive is a strategy as much as an objective.

We have diverged tremendously from what the authors envisioned. The shift in balance toward a nationalist conception of our country, the rise of the military-industrial complex, and above all the centrality of parties in American political life make some of the concerns and responses here seem downright quaint. Worried about having a standing army in peacetime? Having major portions of your economy dependent on one changes the equation significantly.

This calls into question the value of this work. If it's both partisan and outdated, why should it be of interest as anything other than a historical curiosity? The answer, of course, is that these particular partisans established our government, and examining their expectations and intent help explain what has gone wrong over the past 200 (to say nothing of the past 20) years. The American civil war is an excellent case in point. In several passages of deft sophistry, Madison and Hamilton raise and dismiss the possibilities that will nearly tear the country apart in less than a century. We know that they harbored concerns on this score, but their primary concern at the time was to sell the devil's bargain to a skeptical public. A more remarkable disparity may be our current implementation of the electoral college as a battleground for political party dominance, which it's safe to say would have horrified and embarrassed both men.

In a time when every day heralds a new constitutional crises it's valuable to consider how that institution was meant to perform. For that purpose reading these papers is effective, though sadly not very encouraging.
]]> <![CDATA[For We Are Many (Bobiverse, #2)]]> 33395557
Bob and his copies have been spreading out from Earth for 40 years now, looking for habitable planets. But that's the only part of the plan that's still in one piece. A system-wide war has killed off 99.9 percent of the human race; nuclear winter is slowly making the Earth uninhabitable; a radical group wants to finish the job on the remnants of humanity; the Brazilian space probes are still out there, still trying to blow up the competition; and the Bobs have discovered a spacefaring species that sees all other life as food.

Bob left Earth anticipating a life of exploration and blissful solitude. Instead he's become a sky god to a primitive native species, the only hope for getting humanity to a new home, and possibly the only thing that can prevent every living thing in the local sphere from ending up as dinner.]]> 311 Dennis E. Taylor Mike 4 4.37 2017 For We Are Many (Bobiverse, #2)
author: Dennis E. Taylor
name: Mike
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2020/04/26
date added: 2020/04/26
shelves:
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The continuing story of all the Bobs is a rollicking paean to science fiction.
]]> <![CDATA[Same Side Selling: How Integrity and Collaboration Drive Extraordinary Results for Sellers and Buyers]]> 22701398 182 Ian Altman 1940858070 Mike 2 4.03 2014 Same Side Selling: How Integrity and Collaboration Drive Extraordinary Results for Sellers and Buyers
author: Ian Altman
name: Mike
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2014
rating: 2
read at: 2020/04/24
date added: 2020/04/26
shelves:
review:
It's alarming that the authors believe that this is radical or new. Not treating selling and procuring as a contest of wills is good advice, but just as some topics can be comprehensively addressed in a single article this probably doesn't need more than a paragraph.
]]> <![CDATA[The Little Book of Economics: How the Economy Works in the Real World (Little Books. Big Profits)]]> 19223897 An accessible, thoroughly engaging look at how the economy really works and its role in your everyday life Not surprisingly, regular people suddenly are paying a lot closer attention to the economy than ever before. But economics, with its weird technical jargon and knotty concepts and formulas can be a very difficult subject to get to grips with on your own. Enter Greg Ip and his Little Book of Economics. Like a patient, good-natured tutor, Greg, one of today's most respected economics journalists, walks you through everything you need to know about how the economy works. Short on technical jargon and long on clear, concise, plain-English explanations of important terms, concepts, events, historical figures and major players, this revised and updated edition of Greg's bestselling guide clues you in on what's really going on, what it means to you and what we should be demanding our policymakers do about the economy going forward.

From inflation to the Federal Reserve, taxes to the budget deficit, you get indispensible insights into everything that really matters about economics and its impact on everyday life Special sections featuring additional resources of every subject discussed and where to find additional information to help you learn more about an issue and keep track of ongoing developments Offers priceless insights into the roots of America's economic crisis and its aftermath, especially the role played by excessive greed and risk-taking, and what can be done to avoid another economic cataclysm Digs into globalization, the roots of the Euro crisis, the sources of China's spectacular growth, and why the gap between the economy's winners and losers keeps widening]]> 289 Greg Ip Mike 0 3.97 2010 The Little Book of Economics: How the Economy Works in the Real World (Little Books. Big Profits)
author: Greg Ip
name: Mike
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at: 2019/09/12
date added: 2020/04/25
shelves:
review:

]]> The Leader's Bookshelf 34658373 Admiral Jim Stavridis and his co-author, R. Manning Ancell, have been surveying very senior military leaders for the past several years regarding their reading habits and favorite books. They have spoken to over 200 four-star officers, including those both currently on active duty and retired. Each of those admirals and generals was asked for a list of books that strongly influenced their leadership skills. Stavridis and Mancell then collated the data and analyzed which books were mentioned most frequently and which ones were most compelling in the leadership lessons offered the reader. The survey, while not scientific, was quite comprehensive. From it, Stavridis and Ancell built a powerful set of recommended readings. Whether individuals work their way through the entire top 50 list and read each book cover to cover, or read the summaries provided in “The Leader’s Bookshelf� to determine which appeal to them most � this book will provide a roadmap to better leadership.

“The Leader’s Bookshelf� highlights the value of reading for leaders in a philosophical and practical sense, provides advice on how to build an extensive library, lists other books worth reading to improve leadership skills, and analyzes how leaders use what they read to achieve their goals.

“The Leader’s Bookshelf� is a book for anyone who wants to improve their ability to lead -- whether in their family life, their professional endeavors, or within our society and civic organizations.

]]> 288 James G. Stavridis 1682471802 Mike 0 4.33 2017 The Leader's Bookshelf
author: James G. Stavridis
name: Mike
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at: 2019/09/12
date added: 2020/04/21
shelves:
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]]> The Face of Battle 6668119 John Keegan's groundbreaking portrayal of the common soldier in the heat of battle -- a masterpiece that explores the physical and mental aspects of warfareThe Face of Battle is military history from the a look at the direct experience of individuals at the "point of maximum danger." Without the myth-making elements of rhetoric and xenophobia, and breaking away from the stylized format of battle descriptions, John Keegan has written what is probably the definitive model for military historians. And in his scrupulous reassessment of three battles representative of three different time periods, he manages to convey what the experience of combat meant for the participants, whether they were facing the arrow cloud at the battle of Agincourt, the musket balls at Waterloo, or the steel rain of the Somme.The Face of Battle is a companion volume to John Keegan's classic study of the individual soldier, The Mask of together they form a masterpiece of military and human history.]]> 377 John Keegan 1440673993 Mike 4
It's hard for me to accept teleology in general, and many of the corollaries Keegan implies in the course of his survey (for example, the relationship of high officers to violence and serving men) seem more a matter of fashion than of an inevitable movement toward some ideal. However, his main thesis: that the outcomes of battles are primarily determined by how common soldiers are conditioned to a discreet set of circumstances, and that those circumstances are essentially the same though experientially divergent across very different time periods and technology levels, is quite compelling.

Keegan's conversational tone is both a positive and a negative. It is engaging and allows the introduction and development of analogies (such as mountain climbing) in a casual way that is effective. However, I sometimes found it tiresome and repetitive, like a lecturer who has lost track of his subject in his musings about how he relates to that subject.

That quibble aside, the book raises crucial questions about the future of violent conflicts as "battles" cease to be an effective theater for determination of success or failure. This suggests that our whole idea of war being an amalgam of smaller conflicts may be passé, a powerful theory given the post cold war experience and a daring one for a military historian to advance.]]> 3.96 1976 The Face of Battle
author: John Keegan
name: Mike
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1976
rating: 4
read at: 2020/04/12
date added: 2020/04/12
shelves:
review:
A powerful medium for developing an understanding of how military historians think about conflicts, this book also provides a quasi-teleological progression through three eras of battles that seems to be somewhat borne out by the continued trends since it was written.

It's hard for me to accept teleology in general, and many of the corollaries Keegan implies in the course of his survey (for example, the relationship of high officers to violence and serving men) seem more a matter of fashion than of an inevitable movement toward some ideal. However, his main thesis: that the outcomes of battles are primarily determined by how common soldiers are conditioned to a discreet set of circumstances, and that those circumstances are essentially the same though experientially divergent across very different time periods and technology levels, is quite compelling.

Keegan's conversational tone is both a positive and a negative. It is engaging and allows the introduction and development of analogies (such as mountain climbing) in a casual way that is effective. However, I sometimes found it tiresome and repetitive, like a lecturer who has lost track of his subject in his musings about how he relates to that subject.

That quibble aside, the book raises crucial questions about the future of violent conflicts as "battles" cease to be an effective theater for determination of success or failure. This suggests that our whole idea of war being an amalgam of smaller conflicts may be passé, a powerful theory given the post cold war experience and a daring one for a military historian to advance.
]]> <![CDATA[The Thin Red Line (The World War II Trilogy)]]> 38212727 "When compared to the fact that he might very well be dead by this time tomorrow, whether he was courageous or not today was pointless, empty. When compared to the fact that he might be dead tomorrow, everything was pointless. Life was pointless. Whether he looked at a tree or not was pointless. It just didn't make any difference. It was pointless to the tree, it was pointless to every man in his outfit, pointless to everybody in the whole world. Who cared? It was not pointless only to him; and when he was dead, when he ceased to exist, it would be pointless to him too. More important: Not only would it be pointless, it would have been pointless, all along."

Such is the ultimate significance of war in The Thin Red Line (1962), James Jones's fictional account of the battle between American and Japanese troops on the island of Guadalcanal. The narrative shifts effortlessly among multiple viewpoints within C-for-Charlie Company, from commanding officer Capt. James Stein, his psychotic first sergeant Eddie Welsh, and the young privates they send into battle. The descriptions of combat conditions—and the mental states it induces—are unflinchingly realistic, including the dialog (in which a certain word Norman Mailer rendered as "fug" 15 years earlier in The Naked and the Dead appears properly spelled on numerous occasions). This is more than a classic of combat fiction; it is one of the most significant explorations of male identity in American literature, establishing Jones as a novelist of the caliber of Herman Melville and Stephen Crane.]]> 526 James Jones Mike 0 to-read 4.17 1962 The Thin Red Line (The World War II Trilogy)
author: James Jones
name: Mike
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1962
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/04/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Undertones of War 26679119 320 Edmund Blunden 022631166X Mike 0 to-read 4.00 1928 Undertones of War
author: Edmund Blunden
name: Mike
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1928
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/04/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Math with Bad Drawings 36205393 Smart, hilarious, and engaging, MATH WITH BAD DRAWINGS is a delightful re-education in math that empowers readers with a joyful appreciation and powerful understanding of how math works in our daily lives.
In MATH WITH BAD DRAWINGS, Ben Orlin answers math's three big questions: Why do I need to learn this? When am I ever going to use it? Why is it so hard? The answers come in various forms-cartoons, drawings, jokes, and the stories and insights of an empathetic teacher who believes that math should belong to everyone.

Eschewing the tired old curriculum that begins in the wading pool of addition and subtraction and progresses to the shark infested waters of calculus (AKA the Great Weed Out Course), Orlin instead shows us how to think like a mathematician by teaching us a new game of Tic-Tac-Toe, how to understand an economic crisis by rolling a pair of dice, and the mathematical reason why you should never buy a second lottery ticket.
Every example in the book is illustrated with his trademark "bad drawings," which convey both his humor and his message with perfect pitch and clarity. Organized by unconventional but compelling topics such as "Statistics: The Fine Art of Honest Lying," "Design: The Geometry of Stuff That Works," and "Probability: The Mathematics of Maybe," MATH WITH BAD DRAWINGS is a perfect read for fans of illustrated popular science.


]]> 376 Ben Orlin 0316509035 Mike 4 4.24 2018 Math with Bad Drawings
author: Ben Orlin
name: Mike
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2020/03/25
date added: 2020/03/25
shelves:
review:
Smart and funny, covering a lot of ground from a high enough level that he won't lose his target audience, but with enough incision that it isn't completely superficial. This is hard to do, and Orlin walks that tightrope better in some areas than others. Particularly toward the end of the book, the sections start to feel less like engaging discussions on weird and fascinating topics than like brief introductions to two word phrases ending in "theory". That said, this is a fun book that covers some great topics in a highly accessible way.
]]> Feast Your Eyes 40539146 New York Times bestselling author of Bee Season—a compelling and wholly original story about a female photographer grappling with ambition and motherhood, a balancing act familiar to women of every generation.

Feast Your Eyes, framed as the catalogue notes from a photography show at the Museum of Modern Art, tells the life story of Lillian Preston: “America’s Worst Mother, America’s Bravest Mother, America’s Worst Photographer, or America’s Greatest Photographer, depending on who was talking.� After discovering photography as a teenager through her high school’s photo club, Lillian rejects her parents� expectations of college and marriage and moves to New York City in 1955. When a small gallery exhibits partially nude photographs of Lillian and her daughter Samantha, Lillian is arrested, thrust into the national spotlight, and targeted with an obscenity charge. Mother and daughter’s sudden notoriety changes the course of both of their lives and especially Lillian’s career as she continues a life-long quest for artistic legitimacy and recognition.

Narrated by Samantha, Feast Your Eyes reads as a collection of Samantha’s memories, interviews with Lillian’s friends and lovers, and excerpts from Lillian’s journals and letters—a collage of stories and impressions, together amounting to an astounding portrait of a mother and an artist dedicated, above all, to a vision of beauty, truth, and authenticity.

ONE OF NPR’S BEST BOOKS OF 2019

2020 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence Finalist]]> 336 Myla Goldberg 1501197843 Mike 5
I think that, inasmuch as the book has an overriding theme it has to be the moral challenge posed by abortion. The last novel I read that grappled with this was probably An American Tragedy, a product of its time that expressed its objection with a certain didacticism: "there are many arguments in favor of aborting this fetus, BUT those same arguments could be reasonably applied to the murder of the mother, an unambiguously evil act".

This book may also be a product of its time, but the clarity of resolution has been replaced by a myriad of conflicting ideas, collectively rich and harsh in their portrayal of human impulses, justifications, and sacrifices: "Lillian is a horrible caretaker and is not competent as a mother, BUT Lillian loves Samantha more than anything in the world, BUT that love is not realistic and likely doesn't recognize Samantha as a person, Lillian may not have the capability of relating to people in any sort of normal way, BUT Lillian is a brilliant artist and Samantha is at times both muse and subject of this genius, BUT Samantha's misery will destroy their relationship, BUT Samantha's challenging life creates potential..." and on and on.

The thematic arc of the novel runs from the near abortion of Samantha to the simultaneous termination of her own pregnancy and her relationship with Lillian, something which ends up being as final as the slaying of Roberta Alden. But there is no resolution like what Dreiser enjoyed. To say that the novel ends in hope would be misleading, everything is ruined and people die. Yet to say the novel is nihilistic would be just as misguided. Life goes on and the flawed people may yet be redeemed. What more can any of us hope for?]]> 4.15 2019 Feast Your Eyes
author: Myla Goldberg
name: Mike
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2020/03/24
date added: 2020/03/24
shelves:
review:
Complex, challenging, life affirming and very sad. This book, with marvelously flawed main characters, is full of themes and topics. The flyleaf declares that the overriding theme is of balancing ambition and motherhood... an assertion that I find puzzling since the characters at no point demonstrate either ability or desire to achieve balance.

I think that, inasmuch as the book has an overriding theme it has to be the moral challenge posed by abortion. The last novel I read that grappled with this was probably An American Tragedy, a product of its time that expressed its objection with a certain didacticism: "there are many arguments in favor of aborting this fetus, BUT those same arguments could be reasonably applied to the murder of the mother, an unambiguously evil act".

This book may also be a product of its time, but the clarity of resolution has been replaced by a myriad of conflicting ideas, collectively rich and harsh in their portrayal of human impulses, justifications, and sacrifices: "Lillian is a horrible caretaker and is not competent as a mother, BUT Lillian loves Samantha more than anything in the world, BUT that love is not realistic and likely doesn't recognize Samantha as a person, Lillian may not have the capability of relating to people in any sort of normal way, BUT Lillian is a brilliant artist and Samantha is at times both muse and subject of this genius, BUT Samantha's misery will destroy their relationship, BUT Samantha's challenging life creates potential..." and on and on.

The thematic arc of the novel runs from the near abortion of Samantha to the simultaneous termination of her own pregnancy and her relationship with Lillian, something which ends up being as final as the slaying of Roberta Alden. But there is no resolution like what Dreiser enjoyed. To say that the novel ends in hope would be misleading, everything is ruined and people die. Yet to say the novel is nihilistic would be just as misguided. Life goes on and the flawed people may yet be redeemed. What more can any of us hope for?
]]> Thinking, Fast and Slow 12385458 Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman, the renowned psychologist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think.

System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. The impact of overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning our next vacation—each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems shape our judgments and decisions.

Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives—and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Winner of the National Academy of Sciences Best Book Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and selected by The New York Times Book Review as one of the ten best books of 2011, Thinking, Fast and Slow is destined to be a classic.]]> 512 Daniel Kahneman 1429969350 Mike 4 4.20 2011 Thinking, Fast and Slow
author: Daniel Kahneman
name: Mike
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2020/03/12
date added: 2020/03/24
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Cracking the Sales Management Code: The Secrets to Measuring and Managing Sales Performance]]> 18931717 273 Jason Jordan 0071769617 Mike 5
This is a nuts and bolts book about how to actually manage a sales force using metrics. The focus is on those metrics, building and recognizing relationships between them to enable managers to affect things they can't directly control (like revenue growth) through related activities that are in their direct purview (like call volume and account management). ]]> 4.12 2011 Cracking the Sales Management Code: The Secrets to Measuring and Managing Sales Performance
author: Jason Jordan
name: Mike
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2020/03/22
date added: 2020/03/22
shelves:
review:
There's something remarkable about finding a management book that's actually about management, rather than leadership, time-management, self-actualization, or just being confident. It makes me realize just how vapid some of the other stuff I've subjected myself to has been.

This is a nuts and bolts book about how to actually manage a sales force using metrics. The focus is on those metrics, building and recognizing relationships between them to enable managers to affect things they can't directly control (like revenue growth) through related activities that are in their direct purview (like call volume and account management).
]]> Thinking, Fast and Slow 11468377 Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Kahneman exposes the extraordinary capabilities—and also the faults and biases—of fast thinking, and reveals the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and behavior. The impact of loss aversion and overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the challenges of properly framing risks at work and at home, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning the next vacation—each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems work together to shape our judgments and decisions.

Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives—and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Thinking, Fast and Slow will transform the way you think about thinking.]]> 499 Daniel Kahneman 0374275637 Mike 5
As a domain and diversion, both lend themselves to overweening arrogance.

It's best to keep this in mind when reading Kahneman. He will frequently add as a quick aside opinions that would be downright stunning if they didn't follow close on a clear and overwhelmingly well researched study, and it can take a moment to realize that the study doesn't (and couldn't) actually support the opinion in question. For example (loose paraphrase) "Happiness is not immediately measurable in a way we thought it might be. We should stop talking about happiness as though it's a coherent idea"

With that caveat, this is a book full of insights, challenges, and surprising findings that have changed the way we think about our decision making processes over the past fifty years. It's required reading, even with any imperfections it may have.]]> 4.17 2011 Thinking, Fast and Slow
author: Daniel Kahneman
name: Mike
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2020/03/16
shelves:
review:
This represents a lifetime of very good work at the intersection of psychology and economics. It's a peculiar intersection, as the former is an inherently speculative abstraction of the human condition while the latter is so grounded in the expected and observed behavior of statistically significant populations as to be dehumanizing and dismal. Nevertheless, with their common ancestry and the facilitation of scientific studies, the marriage can be deemed a happy one. This is further solidified by something the two disciplines hold, if not uniquely then notably, in common.

As a domain and diversion, both lend themselves to overweening arrogance.

It's best to keep this in mind when reading Kahneman. He will frequently add as a quick aside opinions that would be downright stunning if they didn't follow close on a clear and overwhelmingly well researched study, and it can take a moment to realize that the study doesn't (and couldn't) actually support the opinion in question. For example (loose paraphrase) "Happiness is not immediately measurable in a way we thought it might be. We should stop talking about happiness as though it's a coherent idea"

With that caveat, this is a book full of insights, challenges, and surprising findings that have changed the way we think about our decision making processes over the past fifty years. It's required reading, even with any imperfections it may have.
]]> <![CDATA[The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth]]> 40275161 Conquer the most essential adaptation to the knowledge economy

The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth offers practical guidance for teams and organizations who are serious about success in the modern economy. With so much riding on innovation, creativity, and spark, it is essential to attract and retain quality talent--but what good does this talent do if no one is able to speak their mind? The traditional culture of "fitting in" and "going along" spells doom in the knowledge economy. Success requires a continuous influx of new ideas, new challenges, and critical thought, and the interpersonal climate must not suppress, silence, ridicule or intimidate. Not every idea is good, and yes there are stupid questions, and yes dissent can slow things down, but talking through these things is an essential part of the creative process. People must be allowed to voice half-finished thoughts, ask questions from left field, and brainstorm out loud; it creates a culture in which a minor flub or momentary lapse is no big deal, and where actual mistakes are owned and corrected, and where the next left-field idea could be the next big thing.

This book explores this culture of psychological safety, and provides a blueprint for bringing it to life. The road is sometimes bumpy, but succinct and informative scenario-based explanations provide a clear path forward to constant learning and healthy innovation.

* Explore the link between psychological safety and high performance
* Create a culture where it's "safe" to express ideas, ask questions, and admit mistakes
* Nurture the level of engagement and candor required in today's knowledge economy
* Follow a step-by-step framework for establishing psychological safety in your team or organization

Shed the "yes-men" approach and step into real performance. Fertilize creativity, clarify goals, achieve accountability, redefine leadership, and much more. The Fearless Organization helps you bring about this most critical transformation.]]> 233 Amy C. Edmondson 1119477247 Mike 2
I suppose that a book like this serves a purpose in getting the word out that this is an important issue. A much better book could have come from taking Chapter 7 as a basic outline and developing from there. ]]> 3.95 2018 The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth
author: Amy C. Edmondson
name: Mike
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at: 2020/03/08
date added: 2020/03/08
shelves:
review:
This is an important topic, but it's a pretty bad book. Chapters 1-6 are packed with cautionary anecdotes demonstrating the badness of psychologically unsafe organizations. The chapter summaries for these are virtually interchangeable. Chapter 7 is a hodge-podge of management and leadership best practices ranging freely through coaching, emotional intelligence, communication, strategic vision, and governance. The theme of psychological safety is present as a kind of guiding star, but otherwise it reads like a high level overview of a dozen other management books. Chapter 8 is a FAQ.

I suppose that a book like this serves a purpose in getting the word out that this is an important issue. A much better book could have come from taking Chapter 7 as a basic outline and developing from there.
]]> Tarot Poems 33819168 156 Michael McAfee 0997196513 Mike 0 currently-reading 4.80 Tarot Poems
author: Michael McAfee
name: Mike
average rating: 4.80
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/03/03
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Moving Castle, #1)]]> 16204601 Diana Wynne Jones's entrancing, classic fantasy novel is filled with surprises at every turn.

Sophie has the great misfortune of being the eldest of three daughters, destined to fail miserably should she ever leave home to seek her fate. But when she unwittingly attracts the ire of the Witch of the Waste, Sophie finds herself under a horrid spell that transforms her into an old lady. Her only chance at breaking it lies in the ever-moving castle in the hills: the Wizard Howl's castle. To untangle the enchantment, Sophie must handle the heartless Howl, strike a bargain with a fire demon, and meet the Witch of the Waste head-on. Along the way, she discovers that there's far more to Howl—and herself—than first meets the eye.

In this giant jigsaw puzzle of a fantasy, people and things are never quite what they seem. Destinies are intertwined, identities exchanged, lovers confused. The Witch has placed a spell on Howl. Does the clue to breaking it lie in a famous poem? And what will happen to Sophie Hatter when she enters Howl's castle?]]> 308 Diana Wynne Jones 0062244515 Mike 5 4.33 1986 Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Moving Castle, #1)
author: Diana Wynne Jones
name: Mike
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1986
rating: 5
read at: 2020/02/19
date added: 2020/02/19
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[All Quiet on the Western Front]]> 18882869 307 Erich Maria Remarque Mike 5 4.55 1928 All Quiet on the Western Front
author: Erich Maria Remarque
name: Mike
average rating: 4.55
book published: 1928
rating: 5
read at: 2020/02/09
date added: 2020/02/12
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Past Tense (Jack Reacher, #23)]]> 34019122
At the very same moment, close by, a car breaks down. Two young Canadians are trying to get to New York City to sell a treasure. They are stranded at a lonely motel in the middle of nowhere. It's a strange place ... but it's all there is.

The next morning in the city clerk's office, Reacher asks about the old family home. He's told no one named Reacher ever lived in that town. He knows his father never went back. Now he wonders, was he ever there in the first place?

So begins another nail-biting, adrenaline-fuelled adventure for Reacher. The present can be tense, but the past can be worse. That's for damn sure.]]> 382 Lee Child 0399593519 Mike 3
Just kidding. There are some bad guys, the only question is the order in which they will die. A weaker entry with a fragmented narrative that can best be summarized as "coincidental". ]]> 3.95 2018 Past Tense (Jack Reacher, #23)
author: Lee Child
name: Mike
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2020/02/12
date added: 2020/02/12
shelves:
review:
Reacher confronts his antecedents, raising challenging questions about how the human condition is contextualized by history.

Just kidding. There are some bad guys, the only question is the order in which they will die. A weaker entry with a fragmented narrative that can best be summarized as "coincidental".
]]> <![CDATA[In Search of Lost Time [volumes 1 to 7]]]> 42649413 "At once the last great classic of French epic prose tradition and the towering precursor of the 'nouveau roman'." —Bengt Holmqvist
"Proust so titillates my own desire for expression that I can hardly set out the sentence. Oh if I could write like that!" —Virginia Woolf
"The greatest fiction to date." —W. Somerset Maugham
"Proust is the greatest novelist of the 20th century." —Graham Greene

On the surface a traditional "Bildungsroman" describing the narrator's journey of self-discovery, this huge and complex book is also a panoramic and richly comic portrait of France in the author's lifetime, and a profound meditation on the nature of art, love, time, memory and death. But for most readers it is the characters of the novel who loom the largest: Swann and Odette, Monsieur de Charlus, Morel, the Duchesse de Guermantes, Françoise, Saint-Loup and so many others � Giants, as the author calls them, immersed in Time.
"In Search of Lost Time" is a novel in seven volumes. The novel began to take shape in 1909. Proust continued to work on it until his final illness in the autumn of 1922 forced him to break off. Proust established the structure early on, but even after volumes were initially finished he kept adding new material, and edited one volume after another for publication. The last three of the seven volumes contain oversights and fragmentary or unpolished passages as they existed in draft form at the death of the author; the publication of these parts was overseen by his brother Robert.]]> 3048 Marcel Proust 237926063X Mike 0 currently-reading 4.78 1913 In Search of Lost Time [volumes 1 to 7]
author: Marcel Proust
name: Mike
average rating: 4.78
book published: 1913
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/02/10
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]>